Not a bad gap year for the Minnesota Orchestra. Between Osmo Vänskä's departure from the music director position in spring 2022 and Thomas Søndergård's slated arrival in fall 2023, the orchestra made its programming less about promoting its leader and more about showing what the orchestra can do on its own.

And it proved to be quite a success, lending ammunition to the argument that institutions don't have to be dependent upon one strong leader: Great art can be created using a collaborative model.

A plethora of guest conductors visited during the 2022-23 season, and one of the most esteemed of the bunch came to town for closing weekend: Sir Andrew Davis, the Englishman best known in this part of the world for his 21-year tenure at the helm of the Lyric Opera of Chicago. He led a program bookended by Beethoven on Friday night at Orchestra Hall, and it was quite the satisfying finale for this invariably strong season.

But Davis wasn't the only attraction, for the featured soloist was Canada's James Ehnes, who might very well be the hottest violinist in the world right now, what with two Grammys on his shelf and a 2021 Artist of the Year award from Gramophone magazine. Ehnes' time in the spotlight came on a deeply involving interpretation of Alban Berg's uniquely challenging violin concerto, which would have felt like the concert's climax if not for a pretty darn thrilling take on Beethoven's Seventh Symphony.

The orchestra has spent much of the 21st century establishing itself as an excellent Beethoven ensemble, and Davis' tastes for the repertoire seem simpatico with what was offered on its Vänskä-led recordings of the complete symphonies: He emphasized widely varied dynamics and propulsive pace on both the concert-opening "Egmont" Overture and the scintillating Seventh that capped the evening. If there wasn't quite as much crispness and punch, don't blame the conductor. Davis certainly looked to be asking for it.

While there are glimmers of sorrow in those Beethoven works, Berg's Violin Concerto is fairly saturated in it. Written in 1935 after the unexpected death of the daughter of some dear friends, it's elegiac in tone, and also less a showcase for the soloist's virtuosity than a conversation between violinist and orchestra, a series of exchanges that sound as if expressing heartfelt emotions.

And Ehnes was indeed a fascinating conversationalist, engagingly inhabiting each new mood that came into play, be it meditative, anxious or sentimental. A sense of tragedy rang out at the end of his mesmerizing second-movement cadenza — Ehnes' violin seemingly gasping at the shock, then shouting back at the orchestra's exclamations before finding comfort amid the woodwinds' sonic salve. And Ehnes rewarded the appreciative audience with a lovely encore, a movement from a J.S. Bach sonata.

For Beethoven's Seventh, Davis amped up the intensity by performing its four movements virtually without pause. It was a high-contrast performance, often taking the music down to a whisper before invariably building toward moments of explosive catharsis. Near its conclusion, the conductor looked to be turning all the dials up, asking the players for more intensity, energy and excitement. His request was granted.

Minnesota Orchestra

With: Conductor Andrew Davis and violinist James Ehnes

What: Works by Beethoven, Alban Berg and Chen Yi

When: 8 p.m. Sat.

Where: Orchestra Hall, 1111 Nicollet Mall, Mpls.

Tickets: $35-$109, available at 612-371-5656 or minnesotaorchestra.org

Rob Hubbard is a Twin Cities classical music writer. Reach him at wordhub@yahoo.com.