A workaholic with a famously implausible schedule, Gergiev in concert can be less rewarding than Gergiev in the opera house. He is said to enjoy a special relationship with the Vienna Philharmonic, but his peculiar, shimmering finger movements and dishevelled mien do not automatically inspire a memorable Classical symphony.

That said, the unusually measured tempi do allow for some highlighting of inner voices you may not have noticed before and the performance certainly improves as it goes on. After three movements that can seem a mite earthbound, the finale is dangerously swift.

Whatever you make of Schnittke’s Viola Concerto – and Sviatoslav Richter considered it ‘a very unhealthy piece’, albeit one concocted on the highest professional level – Yuri Bashmet is at the top of his form in music written expressly for him, a matchless guide to its ‘tragic confusion’.

As for the Firebird, Gergiev gives an impassioned, very Russian and very free account of the complete ballet, not the 1919 suite as TDK’s booklet notes insist. Here you’ll find the spontaneity and charisma for which the maestro is so esteemed, even if the vivid colour of his own Kirov CD recording (Philips, 7/98) is not necessarily surpassed by the sophisticated Viennese.

Those in thrall to the cooler exegesis of a Boulez may find it all a bit jumbled; the last bars of Kashchei’s ‘Danse infernale’ are harried to the brink of incoherence. Many will nevertheless find the general rejoicing at the ballet’s end hard to resist and may forgive Brian Large’s insistent close-up of Gergiev’s transported features.

Technically speaking, the DVD is remarkable for its crisp visuals – those Salzburg exteriors are enticing indeed and the camerawork is otherwise unobtrusive. Sound quality per se is slightly dull.