Performances on disc remain relatively rare, and I wish I could greet this new recording of Bruckner’s Mass No 3 in F minor with more enthusiasm. Robin Ticciati’s feel for Bruckner’s intricate structure – especially the labyrinthine Credo – runneth over with instinctive wisdom, and he marshals a top-notch team of vocal soloists. Every time I hear the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra I’m reminded that they’re real contenders; but what a pity this careful attention to detail has been torpedoed by sound balance problems.

The realisation dawns that something might be amiss when the chorus (marked ff) slump into the orchestra after the first soprano and bass solos in the Kyrie. Comparable balance problems bedevil the Credo, where the orchestra and chorus, occupying the same register, battle it out for air, with the muscle of the orchestra always prevailing. In the Credo (at fig F), a characteristic low string/timpani tremolo is inaudible (even when heard through my very expensive headphones, although through CD, not SACD channels).

If you’re prepared to overlook those problems, Ticciati is certainly on the Bruckner ball. Taking his cue from the snaking chromatic pathways of the opening string music – where each chord is skilfully coloured and internally balanced – he keeps the structure of the Kyrie on an elastic leash, tightening the reins abruptly when the harmony settles down and comes to rest as the end of the movement approaches. The snarled, biting string-writing at the beginning of the Credo sounds decidedly Stravinskian; and the Credo is maturely mapped, with light allowed to shine through its information overload. Ticciati 1 – sound engineers nil.