By the time he relinquished his position as chief at Covent Garden earlier this year, Antonio Pappano had established himself among the leading opera conductors of the age. As if that weren’t enough, for much of the past couple of decades he has maintained close relationships with prominent orchestras in Rome and London, exploring not only instrumental repertoire but also, with notable success, a selection of major choral concert works by the likes of Rossini and Verdi. Not that he has limited himself to Italian composers, as a highly competitive recording (Warner, 12/13) and performances – most recently at the Proms this summer – of Britten’s War Requiem have demonstrated.

The fruits of his long association with the London Symphony Orchestra are evident in this recording from a pair of concerts last January of Mendelssohn’s oratorio Elijah, released to coincide with Pappano’s assumption of the role of Chief Conductor. The concerts were by all accounts great successes, with the Barbican stage packed to the gunwales. Pappano is clearly in his element, and unerringly locates the drama that drives the work from within. His Elijah, Gerald Finley, is a thoughtful prophet, bringing a lieder-singer’s shading and nuance to the role, closer to Simon Keenlyside in Paul McCreesh’s 2011 recording than to Bryn Terfel’s big-screen portrayal 20 years earlier for Paul Daniel – a fire-and-brimstone approach to the role so vividly portrayed in that set’s striking cover photo (nominated as the seventh-worst ‘Record Cover from Hell’ – 5/11).

Allan Clayton is characteristiclly ardent in the tenor roles, Sarah Connolly a consoling Angel, and adding a touch of acid to her scenery-chewing turn as Jezebel. Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha is the authoritative and unwavering soprano – and Westminster Cathedral head chorister Ewan Christian is a touching treble presence as Act 1 draws to its close. The Barbican acoustic isn’t overwhelmingly flattering to the chorus: the surroundings of Dundee’s Caird Hall (for Daniel) and Watford Colosseum (McCreesh) embed the choral forces more satisfactorily in the texture of their respective recordings. Nevertheless, the contribution of the London Symphony Chorus is spirited and unflagging, reaching a peak of intensity as Elijah taunts the followers of Baal. Pappano brings out all the theatricality of the work; McCreesh, on the other hand, emphasises its monumentality, while Daniel paints it almost as a Hollywood epic. This new recording may not surpass those others (or any number of older favourites) but it can happily stand among them on its own merits.