A few visionary people have had an ambition to create the dream orchestra – legendary recording producer Walter Legge, conductors Arturo Toscanini and Thomas Beecham among them. When Claudio Abbado embarked on a plan to set up the Lucerne Festival Orchestra in 2003, his aspiration followed in a noble line, even if nobody has found it an easy task.

To judge from this exceptional Prom on Wednesday, Abbado’s dream has come true. The Lucerne Festival Orchestra is no ordinary group of musicians. It has leading soloists sitting at its first desks (Kolja Blacher as leader, Sabine Meyer as first clarinet) and members of the impressive Mahler Chamber Orchestra forming much of the rest.