The conductor David Robertson, who is taking the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra to new levels of excellence and adventurousness as its music director, has presented many exciting programs with the New York Philharmonic as a regular guest over the years. Yet on Thursday night he received a curiously tepid ovation from the Philharmonic audience for his performance of Brahms's Third Symphony, the last work in a program that also offered a Mozart symphony and Bartok's Violin Concerto No. 2.