If, back in the 1960s, I would have predicted that in 50 years’ time the then acid-toned Suisse Romande Orchestra would prove near-ideal performers of Bruckner, I doubt that many would have taken me seriously. And yet that is precisely how things have turned out. Marek Janowski has forged an instrument that projects Bruckner’s richly textured canvases with a combination of warmth, transparency and tonal weight, the brass sounding particularly impressive.

Here, in the Seventh (1885 version, ed Nowak), the first, third and fourth movements work best. In the first, tempo relations are very well judged, with shifts of pulse that tell but that never disrupt the flow. And there’s so much well-observed detail. For example, the important role that pizzicato strings play from around 14'46" and the way lower strings are balanced soon afterwards; then the clarity of texture as the music soars skywards with violins for wings (those wonderful “flying” figurations), and the gentle jog-trot as the principal theme returns, the brass interjecting dramatically whenever they need to. Janowski speeds towards the coda, which broadens appreciably when it arrives, a perfectly formed arch.

The Adagio is perhaps just a mite less compelling, its transitions marginally less natural though the percussion-capped climax is impressive enough. The Scherzo is again superb, the string bands fluent and sumptuous, especially in the Trio, while Janowski opens the finale purposefully, pointing the strings’ motif with precision. Note how carefully he attends to matters of texture, colour and internal balancing, always with an impeccable ear, varying tempi with musical justification, even the significantly broadened closing pages, which I have to admit came as a bit of a shock. But it works.

Pentatone has provided Janowski and his Geneva forces with excellent sound. This is yet another significant step towards what I am convinced will eventually turn out to be one of the finest recorded Bruckner cycles of the 21st century.