The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra was in town Saturday night, playing to a large and enthusiastic crowd at the Lied Center, despite the distraction of a certain basketball game somewhere in the state to our east.

The audience came to hear the splendid playing of one of the world’s leading orchestras and the jaw-dropping performance of one of the world’s leading violinists: Pinchas Zukerman.

Zukerman has been on the world stage for nearly 40 years as performer, conductor and teacher, and on Saturday he was the conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra as well as the featured soloist in an evening of von Weber and Beethoven.

During the first half of the performance, Zukerman conducted a sprightly but a bit restrained “Overture” from the Carl Maria von Weber opera “Oberon.” Along with a lovely and nimble tone from the woodwinds, the audience was treated to the signature sound of the Royal Philharmonic featured throughout the evening: a rich, rotund and glossy meld of winds, brass and strings.

The concert’s second number, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 in A major, was an extraordinary mix of those same full sounds and a rhythmic intensity that drove the piece forward in almost every movement. The cellos and basses were especially lush yet precise as they led the thematic handoff in the second movement “Allegretto.” The dance-like nature of the symphony had an infectious rhythmic pulse reinforced a bit too much by Zukerman’s slightly pedantic baton that despite its metronomic beat was rather difficult to follow. Even the excellent musicians of the RPO had a few entrance problems under his stick.

Of course, everyone came to hear Zukerman play and play he did in Beethoven’s Concerto in D major for Violin and Orchestra, a piece that actually emphasizes the ensemble quality of soloist and orchestra. However, as soloist, Zukerman displayed the extraordinary control of tone for which he is justly admired. There were moments of achingly sweet sounds followed by breathtaking cadenzas delivered with virtuosic intensity and precision. The orchestra’s silky pizzicato segued into the spectacularly spirited familiar sounds of the final Rondo with soloist and orchestra rollicking along as they passed the increasingly mischievous theme among the sections.

The night was dominated by the towering figure of Beethoven recalling that extraordinary musician’s contributions to the world. The Lied Center audience enthusiastically appreciated that man’s genius as it was transmitted to them in the performances of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Pinchas Zukerman.