With light programming and see-and-be-seen atmosphere, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra gala concert is often the equivalent of a big upbeat to the season. Staged Saturday evening at Heinz Hall, the affair had plenty of that, beginning with a singleton movement of Mendelssohn’s sunny “Italian” Symphony and ending with Ravel’s building “Bolero.” In between was anything but fluff. It’s not surprising, considering the PSO put consummate artist Anne-Sophie Mutter on stage. The violinist — who nearly has a CD for every year of her life in her new 40-disc retrospective box set on Deutsche Grammophon — doesn’t do superficial. If anything it makes her more intense. It is something the musicians have come to expect in the PSO’s extraordinary relationship with her over the past two years, including three major tours and several concerts here. In Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto, Ms. Mutter combined an old-school, golden-hued Romanticism with an even older-school, electric performance-practice. The tempos were fast, perhaps close to Mendelssohn’s conception, and she simply tore it up. In fact, she stormed through the concerto with such fervor that she seemed unaware she was imposing on music director Manfred Honeck’s personal space. His response was the good-natured one we have come to expect: He shifted to the right edge of the podium and conducted around her. To those who might find fault in Ms. Mutter’s similarly pressed approach to Sarasate’s Violin Fantasy on Bizet’s “Carmen,” remember that it doesn’t ask the violinist to ape singers. It is an instrumental response to them. Her blistering and brusque playing offered little legato to the seductive arias. To me it was great fun. If you want to hear it sung, go to the opera. The PSO musicians — returning to Pittsburgh on the heels of a yet another barnstorming European tour — had plenty left in the tank. There were a few moments lacking cohesiveness and intonation, but how we take for granted the virtuosity of this group! In fact, most of the reviews from the recent tour are of critics picking their jaws off the floor at the PSO’s precision. In Pittsburgh we take that as par, as we do for the excellent acoustics of Heinz Hall. PSO board chairmen Richard P. Simmons called attention to them as he kicked off the refurbished auditorium’s 40th anniversary by saying, “Look around you.” Colorful solos abounded, but none more so than new principal flutist Lorna McGhee. She shined in the Intermezzo of the “Carmen” Suite (yes, that opera was well represented). Can’t wait to hear more from her. Oh, and plaudits go to percussionist Andrew Reamer, who was steady as a rock as the keeper of the asymmetrical and unremitting “Bolero” rhythm. First published on September 20, 2011 at 12:00 am