Catching up with the Principal Conductor of the West Australian Symphony Orchestra before the final concert of his inaugural season, I’d say Asher Fisch has every reason to feel pleased with himself. A year ago the charismatic Israeli conductor had outlined his task to build up the orchestra he so clearly adores and make them into a crack band in the central European tradition. Judging from the notices and the Beethoven concert I heard last night he’s done pretty much just that.

“I feel like a new trainer who’s come to a soccer team and then we’ve gone to a training camp in Northern Italy,” he tells me. “The Beethoven came at just the right moment. I’ve heard the orchestra now in different repertoire and so I could say, ‘this is what you do, this is what I do – now let’s take it apart.’ And these nine symphonies are like a boot camp because we’re meeting every day and dealing with at least two works, and you build from one symphony to the next. This Festival isn’t about my interpretation of Beethoven – it’s about getting the orchestra to play on a high level constantly. And that has worked...