Born in Greece but raised in Bulgaria, Ivan Anguélov (a pupil of Markevitch, Sawallisch and Carlos Kleiber) has been forging a solid career for himself on the continent, most notably at the National Opera in Bratislava, where his work won him the Furtwängler Prize in 1995. In the booklet, Anguélov speaks of ‘a special affinity’ with the music of Dvorák, a statement certainly borne out by this symphony cycle recorded in the Slovak capital between 2001 and 2004.

I began with the Sixth (my favourite of the nine) and was much taken by the pleasing polish and eagerness shown by the Slovak RSO, the bright, lean and transparent corporate sonority admirably captured with by the microphones. Anguélov steers a confident yet never hasty course through the exhilarating opening Allegro ma no tanto (here, as elsewhere, he shuns the exposition repeat); the slow movement, too, has an easy, songful flow about it (enjoyably tangy, rustic winds). The furiant cross-rhythms in the Scherzo are idiomatically negotiated (infectiously springy violas) and Anguélov allows himself plenty of time in the heaven-sent Trio. Only the finale lets things down a little – cannily paced, but with tension a notch lower than in the rest of the work.

By happy chance, the Sixth can be viewed as something of an interpretative template for the whole. Anguélov’s accounts of the last three symphonies (the Eighth taped live) are, broadly speaking, spontaneous, rhythmically alert and big-hearted; but sometimes the very last ounce of intellectual fibre is absent and the playing, though immensely spirited (try the climax of Seventh’s first movement or the same symphony’s truculent peroration) inevitably falls short of the calibre of, say, the Czech PO, BPO, Bavarian RSO, LSO or Royal Concertgebouw in full cry under masters of this repertoire such as Talich, Ancerl, Kubelík, Rowicki or Davis.

Still, Anguélov is by no means out of his depth in such exalted company. The New World in particular has a soulful temperament and homespun familiarity that genuinely engage. Of the early symphonies, Nos 2 and 3 come off especially well; I’d place the fervent Anguélov just behind the incomparable Rowicki and Suitner’s bright-eyed Staatskapelle Berlin readings. Both the Fourth and Fifth also strike me as agreeably characterful and thoroughly invigorating. As seems customary these days, No 1’s first movement is subjected to some pruning. As a fetching bonus, Anguélov presides over a deft, unaffected Czech Suite.

So, a refreshing, communicative set overall which jaded collectors might like to give a try. Newcomers should, on balance, plump for Kubelík’s DG box. I should add that Rowicki’s magnificent (and criminally underrated) LSO cycle is still available on three Philips Duo reissues in North America; lucky readers there should snap it up before it falls victim to the deletions axe!