During the middle of winter when cabin fever has set in and day dreams are filled with memories of sunny warmth and the summer green of a tumbling countryside, the power of an evening filled with pastoral works such as Dvorak’s Symphony No. 8 in G Major, or Haydn’s Symphony No. 96 in D Major, cannot be underestimated — or underappreciated. In performing these pieces with vividness and detail on Saturday night at the Maine Center for the Arts, the Philharmonia Hungarica awakened any ears made sleepy by this soporific season.

The orchestra opened the concert with Haydn’s lively “Miracle” Symphony, so called because a group of audience members rushed en masse to the front of a concert hall to congratulate the famous composer during one of his personal appearances, and escaped the ensuing crash of a massive chandelier into their recently vacated seats.

Leading a selection of musicians from the orchestra, world-renown conductor Yehudi Menuhin gave a new definition to the nickname of this symphony. Haydn’s charm, which rolls between light humor and captivating grandeur, floated through the auditorium like silken rose petals falling from the sky. Playful pizzicati underscored the flurry of high spirits, and the full-bodied depth of the strings brought a surprisingly pleasant texture to this dignified piece. Like a magician with a colorful scarf up his sleeve, Menuhin gracefully pulled forceful, indivual sounds from the solo violins, flute, oboes, and bassoons.

The Dvorak performance was no less expansive or amiable. Filled with the unbridled enthusiasm and Slavonic dance character of Dvorak’s other compositions, this “English” symphony manages a charisma all its own, and the full grouping of the Philharmonia Hungarica sparkled with every nuance. The Czech folkishness and the bold nationalism of the piece rang through the oompah-pah of the horns, the rumbling of the timpani, and the pulsating flutes.

Yet the presence of nature echoed in each movement, whether pastoral or frenetic, and the orchestra caught each vicissitude with precision, freshness, and exhuberance. The gloriously haunting waltz of the third movement was just as crisp as the wild, fanfaring climax at the end of the symphony.

Duo pianists Ralph Markham and Kenneth Broadway joined the orchestra for a exhilarating performance of Francis Poulenc’s Concerto in D minor for Two Pianos and Orchestra. The centerpiece of the concert, this unpredictable and witty piece was played with great charm, delight, and skill. With wild parody, Poulenc lovingly pokes fun at Mozart, Bach, and Mendelssohn, while he also points to the swaying coolness of Gershwin and the amplitude of Copland.

The skittish concerto moves from romantic scenes of Paris cafes in the 1930s, to unnerving storms of nature, to cartoonish teasing between the strings and wind insturments, to drippingly sentimental elegance. A little bit Debussy, a little bit Salvador Dali, this brilliant, 20th century piece requires staunch discipline, sharp imagination, and unflinching confidence, all of which were masterfully displayed by Markham and Broadway.

After the program, a standing ovation brought Menuhin back to the podium for an encore performance of Mozart’s Overture to “The Marriage of Figaro,” filling the final five minutes of this concert with tantalizing zest and purity.