Philip Barker: Sochi 2014 produced Opening Ceremony to give you goosebumps

They promised an Opening Ceremony which would spotlight Russia's heritage and that was exactly what we got. Sochi's big night was rich in classical music, dance and staggering special effects from the very outset .

"Most people did not expect such a sophisticated show from us," said ceremonies producer Konstantin Ernst. Those who had seen Sochi's handover ceremony at Vancouver 2010 should not have been surprised. Then and now they had that little thing called "class".

It was precisely 20:14 hours when it all began.The sound of Borodin's haunting Polovtsian Dances accompanied the ascent of a little girl called Luvov, played by 11-year-old Liza Temnikova from Krasnodar, a would be Olympic gymnast. Her flight on the high wire recalled the performance of Australian youngster Nikki Webster, who also flew through the air at the Sydney 2000 Summer Games.

"What mattered most was to have a little girl, not a woman," said artistic director Andrei Boltenko. "It was a heavy workload for Liza but we decided to take the risk. We wanted her to be kind and human."

As Luvov soared towards the heavens,artificial snow fell in the Fisht Olympic Stadium. Back in the days of bidding for the Games, Russian President Vladimir Putin had promised there would be snow in Sochi whenever it was needed

As in Beijing 2008, the costumes made extensive use of LED lights which switched to white red and blue, the national colours of Russia, as the choir of the Sretensky Monastery sang their national anthem.

By tradition, Greece were first into the Stadium, followed by Australia as the parade of teams made their entry according to the Russian alphabet.

The United States created quite an impression during the Parade of Nations in their Ralph Lauren designed uniforms ©Sports Illustrated/Getty Images

The Italians' outfits were designed by Giorgio Armani, those of the United States by Ralph Lauren. There were precious few national costumes, though the Bermudans wore their famous knee length shorts. Great Britain, predominantly in dark blue, wore Russian style hats, an echo of their 1960 uniform in Squaw Valley. Back then they were described as "Macmillan hats" after British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan who had just visited then Russian leader Nikita Khrushchev.

All teams had entered up a stair case in the centre of the stage. Viewed from above, the image of each country as seen from outer space was projected on the floor as they entered. Each team did only a half-a-lap of the Stadium before taking their seats. This was an idea which had been used most notably at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha. Here too, it dramatically shortened the athlete parade which was by no means as lengthy as Tolstoy's most famous work.

War and Peace was instead the theme for a balletic presentation - a depiction of Natasha Rostova's first ball. The starring role played by Svetlana Zakharova, a prima ballerina with the Bolshoi.

Dancers perform a Dove of Peace routine during the Opening Ceremony ©Chicago Tribune/Getty Images

Ever since Albertville 1992 Opening Ceremonies have been staged by night, so the use of birds has not been allowed and symbolic alternatives sought. Diana Vishneva, principal dancer with the Mariinsky ballet danced to music came from Tchaicovsky's Swan Lake as the shape of the dove of peace was seen from above.

The stirring fanfare of the Olympic anthem signalled the arrival of the Olympic flag. Back at Moscow in 1980, the flag party from the Soviet military had goose stepped their way into the Lenin Stadium. Soldiers are no longer used.Recent practice has been to select bearers who represents the pillars of Olympism. These included cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova. The Olympic torch had famously been to outer space earlier in its journey

The anthem was sung in Russian by soprano, Anna Netrebko. Written by the Greek composer Spiro Samaras for the first Modern Olympics in 1896, it had first been performed at a Winter Games in 1960 at Squaw Valley California. Soloists in Winter Olymics openings have included Norwegian Sissel Kyrkjebo at Lillehammer in 1994 and Measha Brueggergosman in Vancouver four years ago.

The first torchbearer Maria Sharapova entered the stadium from under ground, shades of Evander Holyfield at Atlanta 1996. Sharapova had been Russia's flagbearer at London 2012. Unusually for a winter Games, competitors from the summer Games were the first four stadium runners.

"We selected great athletes who are famous all around the world," said ceremonies director Ernst. "Whether it is for a winter or summer sport it does not matter."

Double Olympic pole vault champion Yelena Isinbaeva, Athens 2004 rhythmic gymnastics gold medallist Alina Kabeyeva and triple super heavyweight wrestling gold medallist Alexander Karelin also took the flame It was not until the very final leg that it was received by competitors from the Winter Games. Irina Rodnina, 64, and 61-year-old Vladislav Tretyak, ice hockey goal keeper for the legendary red machine of the 1970s. They were the oldest pairing to light the cauldron at an Olympic Winter Games.

Irina Rodnina and Vladislav Tretyak light the Olympic Cauldron ©AFP/Getty Images

This may well come to be considered as the greatest of all Winter Opening Ceremonies

It was unfortunate that the one of the giant rings misfired early in the Ceremony. Since Salt Lake City 2002, the depiction of the rings has become an important moment .Sydney 2000 and Vancouver 2010 had problems at the other end of proceedings when cauldrons malfunctioned during the lighting. The positive assessment of either did not suffer as a result.

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach had predicted " he might have goosebumps all night". If so, he was not alone.

Born in Hackney, a stone's throw from the 2012 Olympic Stadium, Philip Barker has worked as a television journalist for 25 years. He began his career with Trans World Sport, then as a reporter for Skysports News and the ITV breakfast programme. A regular Olympic pundit on BBC Radio, Sky News and Talksport, he is associate editor of the Journal of Olympic History, has lectured at the National Olympic Academy and contributed extensively to Team GB publications.