This was the only issue however, as the interpretation had plenty of vigour and was wonderfully executed. Eschenbach secured a truly magical transformation from scherzo to finale - you couldn't hear a programme rustle - and parts of the Andante shone with a radiant beauty, despite the occasional deviation of tempo.

Ensemble was crisp, helped by incisive timpani and the pinpoint accuracy of basses and cellos, and pianissimo effects were sharply observed. The end felt sufficiently hard won, the leader David Kim an inspiration to the violinists, exerting enough to puff out his cheeks at the end.

Tchaikovsky's fifth, similarly concerning itself with fate and its eventual overcoming, received a top drawer performance. The baleful clarinet of Ricardo Morales suited the darkly coloured first movement perfectly, and Eschenbach, keeping an iron grip on the tempo, saw to it that the themes were integrated tightly, the string sound beautiful once again. Here he allowed the brass a rougher texture, so giving the work more of a Russian hue, used to great effect as the music died away.

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The velvet tones of violas and cellos were perfectly attuned to the slow movement, placed in front of the conductor with the violins either side. This was the symphony's emotional heart, its shattering climax followed by silence in an unexpectedly Brucknerian parallel. The finale was a true affirmation in these hands, violins singing forth in the major key to the crammed arena, and the flourish of the final chords capped the transition from darkness to light.

Eschenbach modestly received the tumultuous applause before showing the orchestra's lighter side in an encore of Smetana's Dance of the Comedians, pulling around with the tempo as a crowd pleaser. The journey had indeed been won, the flames - both musical and otherwise - extinguished.

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