Stravinsky’s wicked quip that Glazunov was just “a Carl Philipp Emmanuel Rimsky-Korsakov” may be grossly unfair to a distinctive composer. Here, though, in his collected concertos and concertante works, it seems his inspiration was varied, particularly towards the alcoholic end of his career in Parisian exile.

José Serebrier plainly loves these works, although even he cannot conceal the fact that, well crafted as everything is, the later works cannot compare with the glorious Violin Concerto in their thematic material, which tends to be agreeably lyrical rather than memorable. Happily, the collection starts with the Violin Concerto, beautifully played by Rachel Barton Pine, with the Russian National Orchestra playing with fine clarity and attack. The purity of Pine’s playing in stratospheric regions is a delight and the galloping rhythms of the finale are infectiously exhilarating.

The two piano concertos are placed in reverse order. The Second is the more compact in its three-movement structure, while the First is in two movements spanning half an hour, the second movement being an extended set of variations and the first bringing echoes of Rachmaninov’s Second Concerto in its thematic material but never quite catching fire like that earlier masterpiece. Alexander Romanovsky brings out the wit and lyrical warmth of the writing.

The other two full concertos date from the end of Glazunov’s career. Saxophonist Sigurd Raschèr commissioned the Saxophone Concerto in 1934 but by then Glazunov had to be nudged along every day to work on it, his last creation. It closes with a jolly Rondo, which is fun as Marc Chisson plays it. The Concerto Ballata was dedicated to Pablo Casals but there is no record that he ever performed it; it is impressively played here by Wen-Sinn Yang. Horn player Alexey Serov has a hint of Russian tone in the Rêverie but most attractive is the Méditation, with Rachel Barton Pine again playing with ravishing purity. Musically this collection may be a mixed bag but all the works have their lyrical attractions, well recorded in clean, transparent sound.