Buffalo, what a town! Last night it was close to zero degrees, and still, thousands of people braved the cold to hear Mozart. Kleinhans Music Hall was packed for the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra’s Mozart birthday celebration. It is becoming an annual event.

For this entertaining program, Assistant Conductor Matthew Kraemer is conducting four pieces. They are all relatively early Mozart, all major-key and bright-toned. There are two exemplary soloists: Pierre Roy, the BPO’s principal oboist; and the teenage violin sensation Caroline Goulding.

Goulding is up for a Grammy Award tonight for her debut album. If it was on her mind Saturday, it didn’t show. She was cool and focused as she walked out in a drop-dead red gown with her centuries-old Amati violin. Her performance of Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5 was clear and captivating.

She wears the music well, sort of the way she wears the gown. She seems born to it, comfortable with it. Nothing seems strained. She sailed through the first movement, the sound from the Amati delicate but assertive. The slow movement sang, brimming with bittersweet Mozartean romance.

The concerto is called the “Turkish” because of its last movement, a wistful minuet with a passionate middle section Mozart meant to imitate the sound of the East. As the fiery “Turkish” interlude began, it was as if Goulding took on a new personality. She played up the contrast so nicely.

Low-key though the ending is, much of the hall gave her a standing ovation. Goulding is still only 17. It will be fascinating to see what awaits this girl in the future.

Pierre Roy, preceding Goulding, is playing the Oboe Concerto, an exquisite piece heard at least as often as a flute concerto.

It was fun to see the tall, lanky Roy step into the spotlight. He is not used to it, and as the orchestra was playing the introduction to the concerto, you could sense his discomfort. He fussed with the oboe, stepped from foot to foot, fidgeted.

Then he played, and of course, he had everything completely under control. Remember the movie “Enchanted April,” and how the sound of the oboe entrances everyone? You get something of the same effect in Kleinhans, hearing this thin solo instrument carrying to the far reaches of the hall — clean and pure, like a bird.

Roy did a wonderful job with the last movement, full of curlicues and tricky rhythms. He is a graceful, courtly player and the crowd gave him warm, prolonged applause.

The night started with the irresistible overture to “The Abduction From the Seraglio.” I’ve never heard it performed live, and it was great to be able to watch the percussion: the cymbals, the triangle.

And the concert winds up with the Symphony No. 35, the “Haffner.” It had a streamlined feeling — no repeats, no time for them probably, and a sense of hurry. But the music had good energy and showcased fine, delicate work from the horns and woodwinds. And, in the last movement, the timpani. The last movement is a timpanist’s dream and, again, it was a kick to see as well as to hear.

The Mozart marathon repeats today at 2:30 p. m.

Concert Review

Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra

Classics concert celebrating the music of Mozart, Saturday evening and 2 p. m. today in Kleinhans Music Hall.