Fifteen years ago it was fashionable to state that, despite its technical shortcomings, the American Symphony Orchestra was a valuable institution because it offered works that would never be heard otherwise in concert. But now that it has once again become a superb ensemble, it is more correct to mention that its excellence of execution rivals, and often surpasses the other tenants of Avery Fisher Hall. On Sunday afternoon it offered a mixture of the forgotten and the familiar under the rubric “Pioneering Influence: Cesar Franck.”

The program began with a shimmering account of Alberic Magnard’s “Hymn to Venus.” I daresay there were but a handful of us in the crowd who know the piece intimately, but all could appreciate the warm lushness of the ASO strings and the deft movement from one refulgent orchestral color to another. Magnard learned his Franckian lessons through a surrogate, Vincent D’Indy, but adopted the master’s sense of the individual sonic moment and its paramount importance. In this performance, those moments rang loud and clear.

Last season, Leon Botstein introduced City Opera audiences to Ariane et Barbe-bleue by Paul Dukas. On Sunday, he rolled out the same composer’s Symphony in C. Both of these compositions are a bit disappointing, dependent as they are on an overblown and now clichéd sense of fin-de-siècle orchestral bigness, but this current account was well played. There was the occasional horn flub and some shrillness in the first violins during the Andante espressivo e sostenuto, but overall this was solid music making.

It was not surprising to read in the program booklet that young British mezzo-soprano Jane Irwin is a Wagnerian specialist and has already sung at Bayreuth. She navigated the lower range of Ernest Chausson’s Poeme de l’amour et de la mer with ease, delving down into the contralto range with a good deal of burnished color. Chausson is the only man in this group who actually studied with Franck and represents the next generation to follow the Franck-Wagner-Debussy triumvirate that held sway in the Gallic regions for so long.

Ms. Irwin was quite eloquent and poised throughout, but did run into audibility problems. Standing in front of a large orchestra is difficult and her voice was often drowned in a sea of instrumentalism. Her culminations of crescendos were fullbodied and easily heard, but much of her exposition was muffled. There was indeed room to quiet the orchestra and Mr. Botstein could have reduced the overall volume as a courtesy, but this was not to be this day. However, the shining moments that gelled properly were phosphorescent and well worth the effort.

Finally, the beloved Symphony in D minor of Franck himself. Mr. Botstein pointed out in his program notes that this piece is both familiar and obscure, since it was a staple of the repertoire for many years but has, like the Piano Concerto of Edvard Grieg, recently fallen out of favor. While my generation was listening to an old favorite, the younger crowd may very well have been hearing this kaleidoscopic work for the first time. Both camps could agree on one thing: This was a wonderful performance.

Mr. Botstein took the opening Lento a little slower than most and conducted a measured and thoughtful rendition. The opening, so reminiscent of Franck’s work for the organ, was suitably exotic and breathy. It is difficult to conjure up another symphony so melodic in character, and the American Symphony made the most of its opportunity for inspired lyricism. The Allegretto featured precise pizzicato — a rare quality in today’s orchestral armamentarium — and a somewhat spooky mood. The final Allegro non troppo was truly exciting, those magical melodies reprised to the greatest of listener satisfaction. What a marvelous piece!

There has been a lot of ink spilled in the past 15 years about local conductors and their ability to build the skills of their charges. While Kurt Masur and Lorin Maazel have been praised — misguidedly in my opinion — for their prowess in this area, Mr. Botstein has, rather unheralded, rolled up his sleeves and gotten the job done.