First impressions are of unclouded Brucknerian vistas, a noble, unforced unfolding with superb playing from the orchestra, well matched tempi (fences never rushed), so that no one episode upstages another inappropriately. There’s plenty of ‘give’ in the string-playing, too, which is expressive and with a distinctive tonal bloom. Well-judged accellerandos (ie 21'03" into the first movement) keep a sense of drama to the fore. Note the effective blend of brass, strings and timps towards the end of the Allegro, whereas the close of the same opening movement is both patient and majestic. The Adagio is equally well paced, not too slow and with an excellent solo oboe. The second set sounds almost Brahmsian in the way it blossoms (richly pulsing horns underpinning answering string lines), with majestically played climaxes. Breathtaking pianissimos charge the mood with extra levels of mystery, while the Scherzo features a rustically galumphing second subject. I particularly liked the transparency of the Trio, always genial and fluid, with a smooth-textured solo horn, delicate woodwinds and pizzicato strings, and sonorous brass choirs. The finale’s opening, with its Beethovenian ‘references back’, maintains a feeling of suspense, the massive double fugue sounding purposeful but without losing a crucial sense of mobility. Here, as the episode progresses, one needs to sense a dancing soul with feet that don’t quite match!

As in the first movement, tempo choices give the impression of an interpretation that has been thoroughly thought through, especially important in music that when insensitively handled can all too easily sound fragmented. There’s a good 22 seconds’ worth of rapturous silence between the mighty closing chord and the beginning of what turns out to be equally rapturous applause. Neither austere in the manner of Wand nor viscerally supercharged along Fürtwanglerian lines, Christian Thielemann and his Dresden orchestra offer, generally speaking, honest reportage plain and simple, a Fifth to savour repeatedly. Thielemann’s rostrum manner is entirely natural and the camerawork, like the musical performance, eschews irritating eccentricity. Altogether a distinguished production, and very well recorded.