The Houston Symphony’s “RachFest” has saved the best for last — as demonstrated by Thursday’s opening of the final program in the three-weekend celebration of Sergei Rachmaninoff.

With Kirill Gerstein bringing passion and expertise to the Piano Concerto No. 2, one of the most beloved works in all music history, with Hans Graf also conducting a vibrant reading of the Symphony No. 3, plus an ideal “curtain raiser,” this final program must be rated, all round, the most satisfying in the series.

Besides being an artfully crafted and perfectly balanced concerto in which both soloist and orchestra are fully utilized throughout, the “Rach 2” boasts a hit parade of some of the most famous themes in classical music, such as the final movement’s beautiful lyric theme that became the Frank Sinatra hit Full Moon and Empty Arms.

Gerstein was in command from the start, steadily gathering force with the brooding chords that open the work, later nimbly dispatching quicksilver runs and sending cascading showers of notes down the keyboard. He brought genuine feeling to the lyrical passages, yet always maintained a sense of movement and drive, even in quieter moments.

Graf shaped the orchestral forces into surging waves of sound, the strings playing with muscular sweep. Superb work in the woodwinds led off the second movement’s main theme, decorated with Gerstein’s graceful arpeggios; the roles then reversed, with Gerstein’s delicate artistry in the theme set against the woodwinds’ embellishment.

Of three well-nigh perfect movements, the concerto’s final one is the most impressive of all, not least for the dramatic contrast between its volatile A theme and passionate B theme, rendered with warm emotion by Gerstein. Graf and Gerstein’s tight, swift handling of the closing measures made for an exciting finale, capped by a five-minute ovation.

Gerstein encored, joined by principal cellist Brinton Averil Smith, with the soulful Andante from Rachmaninoff’s Sonata for Cello and Piano, Gerstein’s extraordinarily deft and graceful keyboard work matched by Smith’s expressiveness and gorgeously singing tone.

Graf unleashed thrilling pyrotechnics of pure sound in Symphony No. 3, an intriguing, large-scale work in some regards characteristic of the composer, but in others, unusually progressive for this musical traditionalist. There was particularly strong work in the second movement’s vivid scherzo interlude and the vivacious dance rhythms of the finale.

The concert opened with another favorite, Vocalise, in Rachmaninoff’s orchestral arrangement of his song without words, the first violins lending the right tenderness to the lovely melody originally created for solo soprano.

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Houston Symphony: RachFest 3
8 p.m. Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Sunday
Jones Hall, 615 Louisiana
Tickets: $25-$119; 713-224-7575