Dresden Philharmonic Led by Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos at Avery Fisher Hall The Dresden Philharmonic traces its history back nearly six centuries, to independent civic bands that flourished between the 16th and 19th centuries. But the orchestra as we know it today was actually founded in 1870, so depending on how you look at it, it is either one of the world's oldest orchestras or nearly 30 years younger than the New York Philharmonic. Dresden Philharmonic Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, the orchestra's music director emeritus, conducting at Avery Fisher Hall on Sunday. Judging by the calendar on its Web page, the Dresden Philharmonic plays new works regularly. But it apparently did not deem any of this year's crop tour-worthy. At its concert at Avery Fisher Hall on Sunday afternoon, the orchestra played only core Romantic works. Also absent was Michael Sanderling, who took over as music director from Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos this season. Instead Mr. Frühbeck de Burgos, now the orchestra's music director emeritus, was on the podium. As it turned out, he and his players maintain a comfortable rapport, and if you are going to spend an afternoon hearing repertory staples, you could do far worse than to spend it with this ensemble. Like many Central European orchestras, it has maintained a sound of its own, distinct from the homogeneous international standard. That alone shows familiar works in a different light. Its woodwinds, for example, have a decidedly tangy coloration; its brasses play with texture and bite; and its percussionists use sticks that produce a sharp-edged timbre. All this was evident in the curtain-raiser, Weber's "Freischütz" Overture, where the brass choirs had a touch of hunting-horn gaminess, and the strings produced a robust, taut, punchy tone. Mr. Frühbeck de Burgos molded this sound into a reading rich in drama and grandeur, and emphasized those same qualities and sonic attributes in a brisk, magnificently emphatic rendering of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. It would be an exaggeration to say that Mr. Frühbeck de Burgos made the work sound new or surprising, but he made its titanic gestures unfold like an epic drama, with enough freshness and power to draw you in and keep you in its grip. Between the Weber and the Beethoven, the cellist Gautier Capuçon was the soloist in a vital, singing account of Dvorak's Cello Concerto. At times, Mr. Capuçon lapsed into unabashed lugubriousness - that can be hard to avoid in the slow movement - but in the finale he regained the focus and zest that had enlivened his performance of the opening Allegro.