There have been several recent recordings of Myaskovsky's epic Sixth Symphony, and his nostalgic Cello Concerto is regularly revisited, but what of the rest of his oeuvre? The modest revival sponsored by the Olympia label proved abortive though Evgeni Svetlanov's symphony series may eventually re-emerge via Warner Classics. Meanwhile we have this modest reclamation: a clutch of lesser works decently executed in a “big” acoustic. While the programme won't win converts, those already attracted to the composer's world will find much of interest in the tripartite mini-symphonies comprising Op 32. Despite providing helpful notes, Regis's back inlay muddles the opus numbers. The idiom is self-effacing, anti-modern and anti-national: it's almost as if we're being invited to dismiss the results as directionless or merely pale.

Reviewing the original issue of these performances, David Fanning heard Hindemith grafted on to Glazunov. The expected ghosts of Borodin and Tchaikovsky are joined by what sounds like Frank Bridge in the Sinfonietta and a Gallic elegance in the Lyric Concertino. There are passages of Sibelian woodwind in thirds, others whose tortured chromaticism recalls César Franck. Some of the best moments are contained within the capacious slow movement of the Sinfonietta (tr 5). Not without its longueurs, this begins with a nobly affecting idea and embraces a magical, exploratory section in something akin to Prokofiev's delicate crepuscular mode. Composed in praise of Stalin in 1939, Myaskovsky's Op 48 is the abstract equivalent of Prokofiev's choral encomium, Zdravitsa. The tunes are not as good, the salutations to the Leader and Teacher rather more discreet.