ICA Classics’ enterprising restoration of two performances with the LPO from the Royal Festival Hall (both originally broadcast on BBC2) is especially valuable for what is surely Solti’s most successful reading of the Enigma Variations. This finds the maestro on infinitely more involving form than on either of his commercial recordings (the live VPO remake from 1996 is, on the whole, preferable to the worryingly slick 1974 studio version with the Chicago SO). “Nimrod” in particular is paced to flowing perfection, while the explosive virtuosity of “WMB”, “Troyte” and “GRS” is most satisfyingly counterbalanced by the fragant poetry and winsome delicacy of “Ysobel”, “WN” and “Dorabella”.

The February 1975 performance of the Second Symphony immediately preceded the Decca sessions in Kingsway Hall. It is, quite simply, a document to treasure, with the LPO (as on the commercial recording) galvanised to thrilling effect by Solti’s prodigiously energetic presence on the podium (one wouldn’t want to be on the end of one of his whiplash left-arm jabs). Not surprisingly, perhaps, there’s an extra edge-of-seat volatility and expressive freedom on show, the secondary material in both the first movement and Scherzo shaped with generous flexibility by a conductor who is clearly in love with the music. Otherwise, both accounts exhibit the same thrustingly purposeful manner, with the slow movement attaining even greater levels of noble intensity and rapt concentration than in the studio. The epilogue is profoundly moving in its valedictory radiance and burnished glow.

Both the picture quality and full-blooded (mono) sound are perfectly acceptable (though principal viola player Rusen Günes’s contribution in “Dorabella” would have benefited from a rather less shy balance). The direction, too, is mercifully undistracting throughout. Most rewarding – and a genuine tonic to boot!