Mozart would seem to be the most familiar of composers, especially considering the large number of his masterpieces that are programmed with welcome regularity. But wait. Could there be Mozart scores we hear rarely or have never encountered that deserve dissemination?

Mitsuko Uchida and members of the Cleveland Orchestra answered the question on Thursday at Severance Hall with decisive and sublime civility. The pianist, who is in the midst of a multiyear cycle of all 27 Mozart piano concertos here, took up three of the lesser-known concertos, all of which came across as treasures revealed.

The orchestra had never programmed two of the concertos - No 11 in F major K413 and No 13 in C major K415 - at Severance, and No 12 in A major K414, was back for only its third visit. How nice to know that we can still be surprised by music written 222 years ago.

These particular concertos abound in surprises, but not necessarily of the kind that thrive on artistic exclamation points. While all three have moments of extroverted vitality, the delicate episodes are what bind them together and keep us glued to the exquisite richness of Mozart's lyrical and playful gifts.

No 11 hardly raises its voice, preferring instead to engage in graceful, sweet and lilting gestures. In No 13, majesty and sprightliness make appearances, but Mozart also shapes poetic lines of operatic loveliness and then rises to the concertos end without fanfare in wisps of quiet charm.

Mozart is a bit more ebullient in No 12, but never for long. Shadows show up amid the sunshine, hushed phrases dominate in the slow movement and the finale's spurts of energy rub shoulders with dramatic flourishes and recitatives.

Uchida and the Cleveland musicians have forged such a close collaboration that they communicate almost without needing anything more between them than a few signals here and there (many, in fact, from concertmaster Williams Preucil). This is a heightened form of chamber music that happens only when everyone onstage plays a key role in the sonic mosaic.

In each concerto, Uchida poured forth an effortless flow of cohesive statements. She managed Mozart's limber material as beautifully as she brought soulful subtlety to the introspective passages.

Mozart's own cadenzas sounded fresh and intriguing in Uchida's hands, as if they were 18th-century explorations thrust elegantly into the 21st century. Hardly a cough interrupted these and other moments, so closely did the audience hang on to every Mozartean turn of phrase, change of harmony and glorious interactions between soloist and orchestra.

Was it a perfect evening. No. Alas, it ended before a fourth concerto could be squeezed in. Happily, Uchida will be back next season for two more Mozart programmes.