Having heard Mark Elder give memorable performances of Bax's Spring Fire with the BBC SO and Chicago SO, I was expecting great things of his new recording of Tintagel. In the event it proves a disappointment, immaculately played to be sure, but the comparatively analytical sound balance robs the music of romantic glow and elemental spectacle. Add to the equation Elder's obsessive quest for detail and the effect is akin to putting Bax's canvas under the microscope. Pacing is also problematic - too deliberate by half in the outer portions and long-breathed second subject. Vernon Handley isn't exactly a speed-merchant either but his conception exhibits an unforced majesty, full-throated ardour and wisdom to leave this latest venture trailing in its wake.

Hallé leader Lyn Fletcher gives a technically flawless account of the solo part in The Lark Ascending but both here and in VW's Norfolk Rhapsody I'd have welcomed more in the way of songful wonder, disarming spontaneity and fragant poetry (neither account manages entirely to shake off the shackles of the studio). It's a similar tale in Finzi's wistful The Fall of the Leaf and the Delius miniatures: for all the skill and tastefulness on show, I miss that inimitable Barbirollian “glow” in this repertoire; and Norman Del Mar's sublime renderings of On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring and Summer Night on the River (part of a famous all-Delius anthology from 1977) distil infinitely greater enchantment and tender hush than Elder's.

The Hallé Choir is in fine fettle for the two a cappella items by Elgar and Ireland that conclude what is on paper an attractive programme, but for the most part this music-making is a little too detached for my liking