It was an evening of unusual, lesser known music, and one featuring an old chestnut, when the Rhode Island Philharmonic gave its more or less monthly concert Saturday night in Providence’s Veterans Memorial Auditorium.

The unusual work was Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara’s violin concerto, a 1977 score championed by the evening’s soloist, Connecticut-bred Elmar Oliveira. Rautavaara is Finland’s most popular composer next to Jean Sibelius. And while the concerto has been around for three decades, Oliveira is about the only violinist who plays it.

And last night’s performance was an ear opener.

The evening opened with a sizzling account of Dvorak’s Carnival Overture, a really tight sparkling rendition that saw the orchestra in top form. Conductor Larry Rachleff insisted on a blistering opening tempo, then let the players breathe in the soulful middle section.

After intermission it was the familiar Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 2, one of the composer’s most luxuriant compositions, with a slow movement to die for.

But first the Rautavaara. As violin concertos go, this one is pretty reflective. It opened with misty harmonies, with Oliveira playing soft, soaring notes in the upper registers. That gave way to a playful section with groaning winds and then the opening of a more upbeat finale.

But strangely that fizzled midway through, losing its drive and momentum.

Oliveira, who has recorded the concerto and played it a lot in concert, made a strong case for the score, though, playing with care and confidence.

But the highlight of the evening was the hourlong Rachmaninoff Symphony, probably his best known orchestral score next to the Symphonic Dances.

Rachleff said before the start of the performance that it reflected the composer’s homeland, religion and love affairs. And that it was “rich and voluptuous.”

The performance certainly bore that out. The strings sounded particularly lush in the opening movement, calling up hints of the composer’s brooding Isle of the Dead. Clarinetist Ian Greitzer deserves a hand for his heartfelt solo in the glowing slow movement, and concertmaster Charles Sherba shone, too.

But it was Rachleff’s shaping of the work that was most impressive, the way he got the orchestra to dig into the score and tap its soulful harmonies.

This was a soaring, impassioned performance built to glorious heights, one that played up Rachmaninoff’s gift for spinning out a tune without sounding schmaltzy.

cgray@projo.com