There were no whimpers in Saturday’s season finale from the Rhode Island Philharmonic. Conductor Larry Rachleff closed out the year with a bang, with a sizzling all-Russian program that ended with a pulsing performance of Stravinsky’s remarkable The Rite of Spring.

And then there was that dazzling account of the third Prokofiev piano concert with Horatio Gutierrez at the keyboard, a glittering performance that brought down the house.

But first there was a little sweetness sprinkled among all those angular melodies and grinding harmonies. And that came in the form of Rachmaninoff’s lovely Vocalise, first written as a song without words, and in this case arranged for a modest-size orchestra by the composer. The strings sounded gorgeous, lush and true, while the winds were there to add bits of counterpoint to that haunting tune in the violins.

Then it was time for the fireworks, with Gutierrez sitting down to the Prokofiev. Gutierrez, who is a pretty big deal in piano circles, was to have performed with the Philharmonic a couple of seasons back, but cancelled at the last moment. So it was good to see him fit and in top form Saturday.

And this is just the kind of music that suits the Cuban-born pianist, a score with big tunes and lots of flash. It’s a brilliant piece with lots of crossed-hands sections, silvery glissandi and cascades of running notes. But Gutierrez had no difficulty negotiating all this, in fact he was brilliant, tearing through difficult passages without breaking a sweat.

It was a performance with a lot of confidence, with a lot of sweep and grandeur. And there were some wonderfully introspective moments in the middle variations movement, too.

Then for the final movement Gutierrez took off again. Gutierrez’s hands seem to dance over the keys at points. At the end the crowd at Veterans Memorial Auditorium went wild, bringing Gutierrez out for several curtain calls.

Rachleff has conducted Rite of Spring here once before, in his first season 12 years ago. So it was nice to hear this astonishing piece again, especially with a much-improved orchestra.

Interestingly, the Rachmaninoff and Stravinsky were written about the same time 1912-13. And how far apart these two musical worlds are, the Rachmaninoff looking back to the 19th-century, and Stravinsky looking ahead to a revolution in music.

Even though the Rite is a century old, it still sounded fresh and raw, the kind of piece that fires the imagination and lets you hear things with new ears.

Rachleff took charge right from the beginning and brought a great sense of edge and crispness to the scores complex rhythms. It was a virtuosic showing from an orchestra that has come a long way.

cgray@projo.com