It has never been exactly a repertory fixture, and the Philharmonic last played it 15 years ago. Mr. Welser-Möst hasn’t been a guest here since before even that: 2000, two years before he took over as music director of the Cleveland Orchestra, in a pairing that continues to result in some of the most exquisitely stylish, ardent symphonic playing in the world.

Especially in Strauss, Mr. Welser-Möst works to aerate music that in other hands — think Jaap van Zweden’s bullish “Der Rosenkavalier” Suite here two weeks ago — can turn leaden. On Thursday at David Geffen Hall, “Symphonia Domestica” tended light and lively, a peppery-cold scoop of sorbet instead of a syrupy port wine. Any overstatement was in the music itself.

Mr. Welser-Möst drew real intimacy from the violins, though long singing lines don’t come naturally to this ensemble, which always seems readier to grimace than smile. Passages like the chorale of winds near the end — in tune here, but not transcendently transparent — mark the difference between a very fine orchestra and a spectacular one.

The program felt like an export from Mr. Welser-Möst’s usual band. When Cleveland tours, it’s known for eschewing star-driven concertos: The orchestra is the star. At the Philharmonic, intermission was preceded by the American premiere of Jörg Widmann’s “Babylon” Suite, a teeming 30-minute extraction of material from his 2012 opera, widely panned at its premiere.

Perhaps the best description of the suite is that it made “Symphonia Domestica” seem almost reticent by comparison. Mr. Widmann, who holds the Debs Composer’s Chair this season at Carnegie Hall, summons a huge complement of musicians, many playing multiple instruments, for a storm of loud and soft, beauty and kitsch.