Review » Pietari Inkinen used the "something old, something new" formula to good effect in his guest spot with the Utah Symphony on Friday. The Finnish conductor paired the extremely well-known Mozart Requiem with two lovely, but seldom heard, French works.

Inkinen, 28 -- but already a 13-year veteran of orchestra conducting -- is the latest in a string of guest conductors who may or may not be candidates for the music directorship that Keith Lockhart soon will vacate. His conducting vocabulary is strikingly similar to Lockhart's, and he also shares Lockhart's penchant for precision. Entrances and cutoffs by the Utah Symphony Chorus were uniformly precise -- which is a must when you have twice as many singers onstage as Mozart would have had. Inkinen's approach to the Requiem was big and broad, which made for some viscerally exciting moments in movements such as the "Dies irae." The moments of awed supplication didn't come off quite as well, but the powerful conclusion brought the large crowd to its feet. Soloists Maureen McKay, Cynthia Hanna, George Dyer and Derrick Parker brought youthful vitality to their parts.

Earlier in the evening, Inkinen drew out an impressive range of orchestral colors in Messiaen's "Les offrandes oubliées" and Debussy's "La damoiselle élue."

Catherine Reese Newton is a music critic. Contact her at creese@sltrib.com or 801-257-8616. Send comments about this review to livingeditor@sltrib.com.