In darkened rooms where artistic directors go to lie down and try to chase away the migraines, Danny Boyle's name must be muck. So magnificent was the job the Trainspotting director did in London two years ago that every poor mite charged with putting opening and closing ceremonies together now are damned by the work of another.

Konstantin Ernst’s biggest gig before this was the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest. No wonder he lamented before yesterday that he could have done with Russia having a deeper pop music history.

Nonetheless, his opening ceremony for Sochi 2014 was at times captivating, often entertaining and of course very occasionally surreal. As a quickstep through Russian history, it covered all points on the spectrum – although for discretion’s sake there was no mention of Lenin or Stalin.

Otherwise, it was a celebration of Russian literature, its classical music, its ballet. Ernst had plenty to include and include it all he did. It takes quite a mind to somehow squeeze Tchaikovsky, Nabakov and Chekhov into the same show as the Russian interior ministry singing Daft Punk's Get Lucky. But that's opening ceremonies for you.

Serious speeches
The serious stuff came with the speeches. On a night of endless dance, newly minted IOC president Thomas Bach used the occasion of his first ever speech at an opening ceremony to make it clear that he was well fit to tango with whoever fancied it. Where it was custom for the IOC's main man to get up and spread a little empty love, Bach decided instead to take a nuanced pop at those he saw as being against Olympic ideals.

First off, a not particularly veiled jab at Russia’s anti-gay laws. Addressing the Olympic athletes directly, he laid on a thick coat of honey taking in their diversity and their embodiment of the Olympic ideals of inclusion and acceptance. At another time in another place, it would have sounded like the same old same old. In this context, with Putin watching on from his balcony, it felt pretty bold.

"You have come here for sport. You have come here with your Olympic dream. The IOC wants your Olympic dream to come true. The universal Olympic rules apply to every athlete, no matter who you are or what your background is," he said.

Political statement
When he was done with that, he took a swing at the political leaders – mainly western ones – who had decided not to attend the ceremony in protest at those self-same anti-gay Russian laws. This was a night that went ahead with Barack Obama, without David Cameron, without François Hollande, without the president or prime minister of Germany. In front of the biggest audience of his life, Bach did nothing to hide his annoyance.

All that was left was the lighting of the torch. Into the arena with it in her paw came Maria Sharapova. She in turn passed it on to pole vaulter Elena Isinbaeva who gave it to Greco-Roman wrestler Aleksandr Karelin. Next up was rhythmic gymnast Alina Kabaeva, to much cough-coughing around the stadium. (Kabaeva and Putin are said to have held the occasional torch for each other, if you will.)

Finally, it fell to a couple of three-time gold winners to officially light the cauldron. Pairs skater Irina Rodnina and ice hockey goalkeeper Vladislav Tretiak jogged out of the stadium as the 40,000 inside watch on TV. Together they held the torch to what was essentially a long fuse and with that, the flame was burning high over Sochi.

Let the games begin.