IT may never raise the neck hairs, nor on the other hand provoke indifference; for Delius it is lyrical persuasion that provides the raison d’etre of his Cello Concerto. There is that balance of pastoral affinity that can, as soloist Paul Watkins so clearly affirmed, aspire to deeply-felt passion. This single-movement multi-sectional work, which includes references to On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring, is more than a pleasant ramble with nature even as the lambency of day fails.

Making his BSO debut conductor Michael Francis also gave an impressive account of Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis. The opening ppp was beautifully made with dynamics echoing the flow of music. The graceful contrasts of the antiphonal ensemble and string quartet were highly refined and spellbindingly deployed.

Fateful themes and dreams haunt Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No4, and under the direction of Francis never were those dreams more ethereal or that glinting, highly polished, keen-edged sword of Damocles hung by a finer thread. Dynamics were judiciously controlled throughout and in the second movement Edward Kay’s hauntingly solo oboe opened the well of melancholy despite the climatic central episode.

The remarkable Scherzo played by strings pizzicato, relieved by staccato woodwinds and brass, ultimately combining in cheerful harmony seem like a form of escapism and more than welcome for that. The seat-raising crash of percussion sets the finale on its homeward grasp at happiness. Francis could not have energised his players more; a magnificent performance that protests Tchaikovsky’s ‘fate’ is our good fortune.