Stravinsky liked Anatole Liadov, an older figure in Russian music active as composer, teacher and conductor. But Liadov was famous for procrastination which ruined his prospects of writing a score for Diaghilev’s The Firebird – and hence gave Stravinsky his great opportunity in 1910. The Enchanted Lake and Kikimora (the name of a wicked female goblin) date from exactly the time when Liadov might have been writing his Firebird. Like Stravinsky’s ballet, these attractive miniatures are steeped in Russian folklore in the tradition of Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov, whom Liadov idolised, and there are eerie suggestions of Stravinsky’s Firebird, especially in Kikimora. There are also glances at Scriabin, whom Stravinsky heard Liadov defend. Baba-Yaga is five years earlier and sounds programmatic in the manner of Dukas’s Sorcerer’s Apprentice, which it resembles.

The Liadov pieces have remained in the repertoire and are well served here, although we could have done with more Liadov on this short CD. The benchmark for the second of Stravinsky’s three great early ballets is his own recording from 1960 with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra, remastered for Sony’s Igor Stravinsky Edition (8/92). His 1962 recording made with the Moscow Philharmonic on his return to Russia (Melodiya) was dwarfed by the occasion and is anyway incomplete. In the 1960 version Stravinsky’s rhythms sparkle, enhanced by a bright recording; accents and grace notes are sharply defined, and some tempi are faster than Fischer’s. This vivid interpretation makes the BBC National Orchestra of Wales sound safe and routine, although their atmospheric passages are telling. There are legions of recordings to choose from but this offers no serious competition.