Janowski’s early success with The Ring on record (now RCA, and see my survey of the cycle, A/07) makes him a good candidate to be only the fifth-ever conductor (following Solti, Karajan, Levine and Barenboim) to have his interpretations of all Wagner’s mature operas released on disc and DVD.

Pentatone’s cycle, to be based on live concerts with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, begins well, very well, from an orchestral viewpoint. No original instruments are to be heard but Janowski’s light, woody textures and brisk tempi seem as informed by history as by the early Romantic, Weber‑ish orchestral weight of Wagner’s essay in the Schauerromantik. Even Janowski’s choice of the standard, revised score (with the “Tristan” ending to overture and opera, and given uncut) does not influence his pacing or orchestral balance towards the forward-looking Romanticism favoured by Solti, Karajan or Levine. Here is charm, wit and even kitsch alongside spooky but never overdone drama. The recording is also first-rate in warmth, immediacy and clarity.

And the voices? A large amount of rehearsal has clearly been done, and shows, in the soloists’ and choir’s complete absorption of Janowski’s stylistic lead. This is, in short, an ensemble – and that factor should inform comparisons with singers on other sets. Ricarda Merbeth may not be the most individual, compelling or, indeed, lustrous Senta but it is an assumption buried deep in the style and tradition of the music. She also turns in some of her most impressive singing to date on these discs, although the older sound of her voice may not please adherents of Anja Silja. Albert Dohmen’s Dutchman is more of a character actor, even a slightly comic-opera character in his delivery, than the tortured wanderer we hear in vintage readings from, say, Hans Hotter, Hermann Uhde and (today) Falk Struckmann. You can hear Dohmen’s style in the main “Wie oft in Meeres tiefsten Schlund” part of the opening monologue, where his acting out of the pirates in fear of him is melodramatic. But he is reliable, game – and moving when he realises Senta’s commitment. He and Merbeth reach great heights in the Act 2 duet.

Elsewhere, Janowski’s spring-cleaning extends even to Matti Salminen, whose Daland count must be into the hundreds but who here sounds commendably light and bouncy. Bayreuth’s reigning Tristan, Robert Dean Smith, makes for a weightier-than-expected but solid Erik, Steve Davislim a stylish Steuermann.

No serious Holländer collection should be without Clemens Krauss (Preiser, 6/96), Klemperer (EMI, 10/00, and live on Testament, 10/08) or Anja Silja’s early Bayreuth performance (under Sawallisch – Philips, 9/94). But the new Pentatone release is a good start to the new Wagner cycle, the best all-round modern performance of the opera and a good nod towards the original-instrument version of this edition of the score we still need