Although titled “From Jewish Life” this beautifully played programme does, I fear, give a rather one-sided picture of what Jewish life is about. The elegiac element predominates save for the ornately gilded rage that from time to time erupts in the pages of Schelomo. Jonathan Aasgaard is principal cellist of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and focuses the inwardly musing aspect of Schelomo’s narrative virtually to perfection. His warm, velvety tone is nicely complemented by an assertive but never hysterical account of the orchestral score under Gerard Schwarz.

But it’s Schwarz’s own moving In memoriam (which honours the memory of the Russian-born cellist David Tonkonogui) that finds Aasgaard plumbing the depths, a touching piece superbly performed: Aasgaard’s tone and phrasing really speak to you. Schwarz has always flown a flag for the music of David Diamond; his records of the Diamond symphonies were among the crowns of the Delos catalogue (most are now happily available on Naxos) and his handling of Diamond’s inwardly contrasting Kaddish – a wordless setting of the ancient Hebrew prayer for the dead – reaffirms his understanding of Diamond’s idiom.

Aasgaard again bows a rich and fluid line, as he does in Bruch’s Kol Nidrei. Listening to the work’s opening bars, like a curtain slowly rising, reminded me of how utterly lovely this piece is, certainly in the hands of someone who appreciates its simplicity and beauty. Bloch’s ruminative “Prayer” is an added bonus. Excellent sound, and an enthusiastic recommendation, but I would advise listening to just one or two pieces at time. That way each work retains its full quota of expressive power.