The Mostly Mozart Festival had its official opening Tuesday night, after a “preview concert” four nights before. The festival is marking its 40th birthday, even as Mozart is marking his 250th (or the world is marking it for him).The Mostly Mozart Festival may seem slightly superfluous in this year of Mozartean orgy. But, really, he is so great, it’s hard to get enough.

Tuesday night’s was a gala concert, meaning that Avery Fisher Hall was all glammed up, looking as elegant as it can.The TV cameras whirred, for a broadcast the following night. And on the podium, leading the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, was Louis Langrée. This energetic and tasteful Frenchman is in his fourth year as festival music director.

The program was not mostly Mozart, but all-Mozart, with two works nicknamed “Coronation” — the Piano Concerto No. 26 in D major, K. 537, and the Mass in C major, K. 317.This was a nice pairing, nicknames (or rather, nickname) aside.

Soloist in the concerto was Garrick Ohlsson, who is best known as a big pianist. I mean, he’s the type who will roar through the Busoni Concerto for you, without breaking a sweat. But every musician worth his salt plays Mozart, and Mr. Ohlsson is such a musician. He was strong in K. 537 — hardly demure — but also refined. There were problems, however, particularly in the first movement.

Mr. Ohlsson’s passagework tended to be blurred, and his turns were unclear.Worse, he allowed a blandness to creep in. This movement may not be Mozart at his most arresting, but it is not boring.

Incidentally, Mr. Ohlsson used cadenzas by Paul Badura-Skoda, the Viennese-born pianist and scholar.Those cadenzas are inventive and appropriate.

Mozart’s second movement is marked “Larghetto,” and Mr. Ohlsson chose a pleasing tempo for it. He was fairly brisk, not forgetting that “etto.” And, though I have faulted him for blandness in the first movement, I will now praise him for plainness in his playing of the Larghetto’s opening theme: It does not need to be juiced up. In addition, there were some lovely, insinuating passages as this movement continued.

The third movement, Allegretto, is one of the most sparkling, jaunty, and grinning that Mozart ever wrote. Mr. Ohlsson was thoroughly competent in it, although we could have heard more of a sparkle (and more of those other qualities, too).

Under Mr. Langrée, the orchestra played pretty well, despite some coordination problems — problems that occurred both within the orchestra and with the soloist. My guess is that a little more rehearsal time would have helped, as it normally does.

Once the concerto ended, Mr. Ohlsson announced that he had a “dividend” for us. Oh? This was the Variations on “Ah, vous dirai-je, maman,” Mozart’s treatment of the song we know of in English as “Twinkle, Twinkle.” These variations are loved the world over, and for good reason.And, in brief, Mr. Ohlsson played them exactly as he had the concerto. He is, among other things, a consistent pianist.

The “Coronation” Mass is one of those great Mozart works in C major, with majesty, adrenalin, and glory.The “Jupiter” Symphony is another such piece (and we heard that in the festival’s “preview concert”). Mr. Langrée had the spirit of the Mass, and he communicated it to his forces, which included the Concert Chorale of New York. Duly thrilling were those C-major shouts of joy. Beethoven does some of this shouting, too, at the end of “Fidelio” — a lot of it, in fact.

The Mass requires four vocal soloists, and the festival had a fine Mozartean lineup. From top to bottom, they were

Hei-Kyung Hong, soprano; Susanne Mentzer, mezzo-soprano; Matthew Polenzani, tenor; and John Relyea, bass (actually, bass-baritone). You would have expected good things, and you would have been satisfied, largely.

Ms. Hong did not have her best night. She committed some stridency, and some poor intonation. But her singing in the Agnus Dei was pretty good, which was fortunate, because the Agnus Dei is the soprano’s big moment in the work. It sits lowish in the voice, which probably helped Ms. Hong. She provided some nice, gentle ornamentation. But she was just slightly mannered in this music. Mozart’s line did not exactly flow.

Ms. Mentzer was solid, as usual, and Mr. Polenzani was sweet-voiced, also as usual. But he is more than sweetvoiced: His singing has necessary strength, which has less to do with volume than with musical character — a character that involves rhythmic assurance, for example. As for Mr. Relyea, he can be counted on for authority and taste, and those he delivered.

It is a complaint of mine that we hear too little choral music in our concert halls. Mozart wrote plenty of it, connected to the Church as he was. Good for Mr. Langrée, or whoever arranged this program. And let’s hear some more!

Mostly Mozart Festival, through August 26 (Lincoln Center, 212-721-6500).