It must be one of music's most exciting moments: the end of Mahler's 1st Symphony when the eight horn players spring to their feet and play their triumphant hearts out.

It certainly worked for Saturday's Albert Hall audience whose cheers would have left the NSO and their conductor Derek Williams in no doubt of their approval.

It may be 'one hellova piece', as the lady next to me described it, but it must also be a beast to perform.

Take the opening. It's easy enough to describe what Mahler was doing: bird-calls and distant military fanfares emerge from other-worldly string harmonics.

But the spotlight falls on so many individual players, catching them at their most vulnerable. Hats off to the NSO for rising to the challenge.

Pianist Anthony Goldstone's deep experience (as well as his long-standing collaboration with the conductor) was evident in his performance of Beethoven's Emperor Concerto.

Total keyboard mastery was matched by a freshness of insight, and a capacity to surprise. The first statement of the rondo theme seemed to leap out from nowhere, catching more than a few members of the audience off their guard.

Also on the programme was Strauss's Dance of the Seven Veils in which the exotic sounds created by the NSO were matched by sensous dancing from Lauren Taylor.