“The Wonder of It All” is the slogan for the lineup of artistic events at the Maine Center for the Arts this season, which began Saturday night with a sparkling performance by Germany’s Junge Deutsche Philharmonie and soloist Yo-Yo Ma. Under the firm direction of Michael Gielen, the orchestra and renowned cellist, indeed, swept away the audience into a wonder-filled evening of exciting music. Sponsored by Fleet Bank, the concert, though not a sold-out house, got the year off to a good start.

A section of musicians from the Philharmonie brought a particularly lively quality to Mozart’s Symphony No. 25 in G Minor, called “the little G minor” but rendered Saturday night with no littleness whatsoever. There was something very heartwarming about watching a young group of musicians — the average age of which is 23 — perform a piece written by a zesty composer in his late teens. With invigorating clarity, the Philharmonie whirled through this sometimes impetuous, sometimes dark piece. Geilin kept the details sharp: the formidable baying of horns, the frenetic agitation of violins, the sweet, plaintive beauty of an oboe.

Yo-Yo Ma joined the full orchestra for a thunderous rendition of Witold Lutoslawski’s Concerto for Cello and Orchestra, written in 1970, and clearly a departure from the more classical repertory of the evening. The piece began with the gentle wailing sounds of a solo cello, which were interrupted minutes later by bold horns, and then raucous orchestral rumblings. Continuing in a jarring dissonance mixed with lovely, recognizable strains, the music always returned to the lone, determined, triumphant cello.

Ma gave a subtly dramatic performance, occasionally looking over his shoulder toward the horns as if to challenge them to combat in this unsettling number. As his fingers crawled upon the neck of his cello and the orchestra roared and screeched around him, it seemed as if he and his instrument fused together in an image of the self struggling to survive against some formless and exceedingly large universe. Then, in one charismatic chant, the entire group — more than 150 musicians — united in a overwhelming yawp of melodious sound. The moment was breathtaking.

It is unlikely that anyone would describe this piece as easily accessible or even pleasant. And the dark, fantastical, improvisatory nature of Lutoslawski’s composition surely surprised more than a few listeners, who were generally hesitant, but finally generous, with their applause at the end of the piece. But the skeptics in the crowd were appeased, and everyone seemed charmed, when Ma unexpectedly returned to the stage, joined 10 other cellists and a bassist, and played a pleasant, good-humored piece called “Lightly Go Into the Night.”

During the second half of the evening, the Philharmonie gave a crisp reading of Shubert’s colossal Symphony No. 9 in C major. Carefully paced and superbly bright, the performance, which lastly nearly an hour, progressed with vitality from the mystery and darkness of the beginning movements to a final blaze of glory.

Throughout the evening, Geilin stood proudly among these proteges, who he led gracefully, supportively and resolutely through this wonderful gala event.