One might argue quality not quantity – and the former is amply in evidence here – but 58 minutes is short measure for a CD these days. But the suites from Khachaturian’s two popular ballets, offering a surfeit of pagan sugar and spice, are what they are; and what’s not to like about the performances? You would expect flair and character, elegance as well as muscle from this orchestra and conductor but what is rather more surprising – based on the memory of past history – is the refinement. The gentler dances of both scores are gracefully attended, with curvaceous woodwind solos seductively turned and suggestive always of twisting limbs. There is oodles of Armenian schmaltz too, of course, and the ubiquitous ‘Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia’ is highly perfumed, rising to a sumptuous trumpet-topped climax.

But no one can shirk the vulgarity of certain numbers and Temirkanov surrenders to the blowsy excess of the ‘Dance with Crotalums’, a number which could have provided underscoring for any Hollywood epic bacchanal. The ‘Victory of Spartacus’ is suitably lairy, too, and reminds me of a concert conducted by the composer at London’s Royal Albert Hall at the height of his Onedin Line popularity, when he arrived on the platform with what looked like a number of Soviet medals pinned to his dinner jacket.

But when I referred earlier to the refinement of the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra today (and that’s something for which Temirkanov should take much credit) I had still not anticipated quite so diaphanous an account of Ravel’s second Daphnis et Chloé suite. There are blemishes: the very sultry flute solo has a couple of dropped stitches, including one instance of very dodgy tuning in the lower register. But this is a live performance and, as a feisty E flat clarinet ratchets up the ‘Danse générale’, the fantastic clarity of the inner part-writing – not least those whirling woodwinds – makes for cheer-raising excitement.