As if audiences hadn’t been thoroughly challenged and dazzled a-plenty by a week of exceptional concerts, Festival del Sole served up a double-barreled musical blast at Yountville’s Lincoln Theater Sunday night.

With an aristocratic air that recalls playing of an earlier age,  Denmark native Nikolaj Znaider returned to wine country on a bill with one of the exciting virtuosos of the day, Polish-Hungarian pianist Piotr Anderszewski. On top of that, the Russian National Orchestra welcomed to the podium Antonio Pappano, the dynamic music director of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. There was more talent on the Lincoln Theater stage than you could shake a stick at.

I think it’s safe to say that the resident Russian National Orchestra soared on the strings of Nikolaj Znaider. He held the audience spellbound for close to a half hour, at which point one and all leapt to their feet shouting praise — in several languages.

While it has served to introduce many a talented young fiddler, Felix Mendelssohn’s “Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in E Minor” should never be considered easy to perform. Just the opposite — the frequent virtuoso passages provide ample opportunity for a young soloist to show off his technique, while the lyricism of the piece quickly reveals the performer’s interpretive talents.

We couldn’t have had a better example than the teaming up of Znaider with the well-disciplined Russian National Orchestra, led by firebrand Pappano.

One of the most popular concertos ever written, this is a work often looked on as a war-horse. While it is familiar, to be sure, we can thank the remarkable soloist for providing an interpretation that made us listen through new ears. With featherlike bowing, perfect sweetness and purity of tone, Znaider offered an unforgettably songful account of the Andante.

The final movement pays proper homage to the virtuoso tradition of the concerto, displaying buoyant themes at such breakneck speed that Znaider seemed to play twice as many notes as any pair of other instrumentalists combined. This was a tour de force, light and sparkling, with every note in place.

Sensitive and sensual, this was an ethereal reading from Znaider. Towering over Pappano, the soloist, with a red handkerchief tucked into the pocket of his collarless thigh-length formal jacket, seemed a giant among mere mortals as he played this gentle, singing, endearing music with such pure tone.

Pappano may be small of stature, but his powerful command of the orchestra produced a performance marked by charm and disarming simplicity. He and the Russians are to be praised for providing appropriately refined support.

Impeccable support was also offered for Anderszewski’s reading of Bela Bartok’s “Third Concerto for Piano and Orchestra,” the composer’s most popular piano composition. It marked the return to the diatonic idiom of his earlier years. Bartok had completed all but the last 17 bars of the concerto prior to his death in 1945, but indications for them were left in shorthand notes and the work was completed by his disciple and interpreter, Tibor Serly.

Anderszewski’s Bartok was refined but dramatic. Including such autobiographical nuances as a collection of bird calls based on sounds the composer recorded during time he spent in North Carolina, this quite lyrical reading appropriately reflected the personal contentment that Bartók had finally found in America during his later years.

There was a wonderful improvisatory feel to much of it, and most appealing was the pianist’s caressing of second movement phrases that pointed up the lovely lyricism of this score. The Adagio Religioso was beautifully played and most affecting. Orchestral accompaniment was characteristically idiomatic — the partnership of soloist and conductor worked extremely well.

Best of his three symphonies, Rachmaninoff’s “Symphony No. 2 in E Minor” rounded out the festival finale. This is heart-tugging music for those who have hearts that like to be tugged. Pappano struck fire, sculpting marvelous sound from the well-rehearsed Russian National Orchestra — soaring strings, bold brass, ethereal winds and bombastic percussion.

Missing was the usual Russian heaviness — rhythms proved exciting, textures supple. I enjoyed Pappano’s go-for-broke climaxes and the fact that he managed to sneak up on us with the larger-than-life finale, nary a repetitive moment. What’s not to like about that adagio with one of the most beautiful melodies ever penned? And just when you’ve been lulled into a romantic stupor, the finale lets loose with some 15 minutes of unbridled joy. Pappano provided lots of sizzle for the final work of the second season.

And a grand season it was — with the discovery of young talent, the introduction of unknown works, the onstage embrace of soloists and conductors, the yeoman-like efforts of a hard-working orchestra, even nuptials of participants hosted by festival backers/vintners Tatiana and Gerret Copeland.

Festival brass has promised to return next summer with more exciting soloists and programs. If you hear that orchestras from Dallas and San Francisco will replace the Russians next year, remember you read it here first.