The New York Philharmonic’s current subscription series is unusual, in that it has two conductors: the music director, Lorin Maazel, and Xian Zhang. Who’s she? She is a young woman who won the Maazel-Vilar conductors’ competition three years ago – who “co-won” it, actually – and who has since become the Philharmonic’s assistant conductor. She is described as Mr. Maazel’s protegee.

The jointly conducted concert goes like this: Mr. Maazel leads the first half, then leaves the stage to Ms. Zhang, for the second half. A truly interesting setup, that.

Ms. Zhang conducts a new work, Mark-Anthony Turnage’s “Scherzoid,” and the Four Sea Interludes from Britten’s “Peter Grimes.” On Wednesday night, this Chinese conductor proved herself intelligent, lively, and intense. Her gestures tend to be animated and precise. She is a bit of a podium-dancer – so, of course, is Mr. Maazel.

The first Britten interlude (“Dawn”) was unusually tense, and its dynamics were very bold. Indeed, this piece had almost more edginess than the music can bear. The second interlude – “Sunday Morning” – sounded harsher than you normally hear it. It might have been a portion of a Prokofiev symphony, or ballet. Yet there was no denying that Ms. Zhang had control of that orchestra.

It was in the third interlude – “Moonlight” – that the orchestra suffered some coordination problems. And the piece was more restive, less assured, than it might have been. In the final interlude – “Storm” – the conductor’s demonstrated qualities were very much called for: and the interlude was stormy indeed. Nonetheless, it sounded more busy and polished than frightening or overwhelming.

Mark-Anthony Turnage is a British composer in his mid-40s, and the Philharmonic has played his music before: A year ago, we heard “A Quick Blast,” which is brassy, jazzy, riffy, and unrelenting. Currently, we are hearing that “Scherzoid,” whose nature you can figure out from the title. It strings together three scherzos, complete with a couple of trios.

The piece is what we have come to know as Turnage-esque. It is Stravinskyan, jazz-filled, propulsive. “Scherzoid” is rhythmically arresting, and there is a ton of percussion. What is it about modern composers, that they are so fascinated with – fixated on! – rhythm and percussion? There is an academic (and perhaps a psychological) paper to be written on that.

While accomplished, “Scherzoid” is perhaps not schizoid enough, as a sameness seems to take over. But the Philharmonic need not regret this commission (co-commission, I should say – the London Philharmonic and others contributed too).

Xian Zhang was extremely emphatic all the way through, and possibly too emphatic: Some relaxation – some variation – might have been in order. And yet, the composer cannot complain that he did not receive from this conductor, in his piece’s premiere, a committed reading.

Before intermission, Mr. Maazel had conducted Strauss’s Horn Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major, with the Philharmonic’s principal French-horn player, Philip Myers. Mr. Maazel is a fine Straussian, and he was involving and rhapsodic in this work. Speaking of committed readings: This conductor was totally committed, in what is, after all, not a Strauss masterpiece. (With apologies to horn players everywhere, and to the concerto.) Mr. Maazel acted as though it were Beethoven’s Ninth, and he helped make the piece sound better than it is. All the best conductors do this.

Mr. Myers is a popular player, and the audience loved him on this night. It had ample reason: Mr. Myers was never less than competent (on this notoriously difficult instrument), and he exhibited much power. His playing in the Andante was remarkably composed. It would have been nice if the orchestra had been together on that movement’s penultimate note. (The final one could have been cleaner as well.)

Beginning this concert was a Mozart symphony, No. 29 in A, written when Mozart was 18. Mr. Maazel fussed a bit over the symphony’s (marvelous) opening measures; they were oddly elongated. And one might have expected more crispness in this movement overall. But Mr. Maazel was ever elegant, and he seemed to be respecting the second word in the movement’s marking: Allegro moderato.

The Andante had a wonderful balance of what you might call “feeling,” and strictness. Furthermore, the conductor brought out a churning, slightly unsettled aspect. The third movement – a minuet and trio – featured nice contrasts, with Mr. Maazel injecting vigor without obnoxiousness. In the closing movement – Allegro con spirito – Mr. Maazel was unafraid, and he was plenty vivacious. Again, however, he did not go too far.

Mr. Maazel is not known as a Mozartean – he programs him rarely, at least in New York – but Mozartean he was. What true musician could fail to be?

And it speaks well of Mr. Maazel, in my view, that he allowed his protegee the final half, the final music, the final bow. The conductorial ego is supposed to forbid.

Of course, some might argue that she deserves a subscription concert of her own. She will get it, no doubt.

The program will be performed again on January 15 at 8 p.m. and January 18 at 7:30 p.m. (Lincoln Center, 212-875-5900).