This superlative performance of Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony serves to underline what can be achieved in realms of interpretation when a conductor and orchestra abide by the things that the composer asked them to do. Rachmaninov was scrupulous with markings in his scores and the Second Symphony is no exception, be it tiny hairpins on a particular motif, a sharp sforzando or a carefully calibrated fluctuation of pacing. Listening to Pappano and the Santa Cecilia Orchestra, you really appreciate how these and many other details, which are too often merely glossed over or approximated, animate the texture and fuel the symphony’s energy and strength. At the same time they help fortify the music’s organic architecture, for there are occasions when an inner part might hint at a key melodic shape, serving as an important point of reference or maybe forming a crucial aid to structural cohesion. In that respect, Pappano is revelatory.

It is rare indeed to hear the Second Symphony executed with such clarity and with such a faithful, balanced spectrum of instrumental colour but the performance goes much further than that. Pappano has passion, too, and he knows when to unleash it and when to keep it quietly in reserve. Together with his sharp ear for facets of dynamics and phrasing, he has a broad, utterly compelling view of how the symphony evolves and makes its dramatic impact. The orchestra play superbly for him, both in the symphony and in an exquisite account of Liadov’s The Enchanted Lake.