The emergence of the opening theme is certainly dream-like (that, we are told, is how Bruckner first heard it), the tremolando of barely audible violins deeply mysterious, the evolving theme lofty and expansive, hieratical more than songful and less indebted to Schubert than the recent Runnicles recording with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. There is no question that Stanisπaw Skrowaczewski’s approach to Bruckner is grandly old-school; but it displays a humanity that is a world away from the brassier cosmos of Karajan or Klemperer and its modesty, its classicism, is reflected in the nurturing of small details and the intimacy and charm of such detail, almost Mozartian at times.

But there is the bigger picture – noble more than it is monumental – and Skrowaczewski allows himself the luxury of some very free phrasing, drinking in the atmosphere and lingering over one or two key passages, like the recapitulation of the opening theme in the first movement, embellished now with ecstatic counterpoint in the violins, and its half-remembered return towards the end of the movement, where it meditates darkly over crescendo-ing timpani before the sunrise of the coda. There is a satisfying balance, too, between spirituality and chivalry – a mellower and more benevolent grandeur, you could say, without the Wagnerian ego which infects so many Bruckner performances. Climaxes are judiciously blended and only once – the controversially cymbal-topped climax of the slow movement – momentous. That particular peak stands out from the range, and the majestic elegy to Wagner in tubas and horns in its wake is beautifully attended by the London Philharmonic players.

The playing is fine throughout – an orchestra truly listening, in the chamber-music sense of the word – and the disc has been decently engineered in the somewhat sterile acoustic of the Royal Festival Hall. Hardly a natural environment for Bruckner. It’s not the kind of performance that will stop you in your tracks but it has a quiet dignity and integrity, and one is left in no doubt that the man on the podium comes with a wealth of experience and is in love with every bar.