First, a happy observation. This is the fourth CD of Dvorák’s Sixth that I’ve reviewed in the last two or three years and, as with Gerard Schwarz, José Serebrier and Marin Alsop, Marcus Bosch observes the important first-movement exposition repeat which, as I wrote when reviewing the Alsop recording, allows us access to a beautiful bridge passage (into the repeat) that would otherwise have remained mute on the page of the score.

Interesting that where Serebrier broadens slightly as he approaches the first big climax, Bosch hungrily pushes the tempo, a signal that his will be a keen-eared, bushy-tailed production, light on its feet and as lyrical as it’s breezily energetic. Though not exactly the most refined band in this music, the Nuremberg State Philharmonic manage some lovely moments, one in particular occurring 7'01" into the Adagio, where, tailing the woodwinds, the violins enter quietly and expressively with their statement of the principal theme. The Scherzo has plenty of gusto, though I miss the exciting timpani detail present on Kubelík’s Berlin recording, and I like the way Bosch cues a really quiet opening to the finale, the string and woodwind choirs beautifully balanced. Again, as the going heats up, so does the tempo, but the contrast soon levels off. The Water Goblin is vividly played, the very opening reversing what we usually hear by keeping the flutes and clarinets in the background while the accompanying instruments (violins, violas) take prominence, not an option I would want to hear too often but interesting nonetheless (the flutes are marked piano mezza voce, the other instruments pianissimo).

As to the rivals (for the symphony), Serebrier generously offers the sun-drenched Third Symphony but on Schwarz’s disc you have Janáček's youthful Idyll for strings – a really beautiful work, as I’ve said before redolent at times of Dvořák,, at other times of Tchaikovsky, and an effective showcase for the Seattle strings. Among digital options in the Sixth either Serebrier or Schwarz would prove preferable but Bosch’s unforced spontaneity in both works has a lot going for it.