Time was, about three decades back, that you knew what you were getting with a Naxos disc. You wouldn’t necessarily know the orchestra or the conductor but you’d get a serviceable account in workmanlike sound, and for £4.50 you’d feel it was a bargain. Decent, quaffable vin ordinaire music-making; perhaps, if you were lucky, something a bit classier. But generally OK pending something better.

This new release gave me flashbacks; so much so that I had to double-check that Naxos hadn’t actually recorded this repertoire before. The three symphonic poems here are ‘Swedish’ in that they were written between 1858 and 1861, while Smetana was resident in Gothenburg. Those were early days for symphonic poems, and Smetana follows Liszt’s model: vividly scored miniature symphonies in several linked sections.

Svárovský and the Slovak Philharmonic go at them with vim and a certain swagger; there are enjoyably characterful violin and woodwind solos. But Smetana’s orchestration tends towards the maximal, and both the recorded balance and Svárovský’s interpretation emphasise that; muddy and murmured when quiet, congested and relentless when loud. I found myself wincing as the Slovak Philharmonic trombones bedded in for another sustained blast; subtler elements of the texture (such as the harp) tend to vanish into a hazy middle distance.

The Scherzo from the Festive Symphony is very beefy indeed, and at less than 59 minutes this is a short disc. I notice that it was recorded in 2014 and do wonder why Naxos waited five years to release it. It’s still worth a try if you want an entry-level listen; but Noseda and the BBC Philharmonic on Chandos offer far greater rewards.