It could take traditional labels years to attract artists of this calibre to record works of this scale. Instead we have two eavesdrops on two evenings at the Royal Festival Hall from the back end of Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s tenure as the LPO’s Principal Guest Conductor.

At one level, it’s an embarrassment of riches for Poulenc fans. On another, it speaks of the modus operandi of London orchestras where rehearsal time is short and much depends on the atmosphere of the evening. Nézet-Séguin often got the best out of the London Philharmonic Choir (there’s a touching Brahms Requiem from the same source – 8/10) and, for an amateur chorus, they sound excellent for him in Poulenc’s Stabat mater – a fatter, softer performance than we are used to but one that has drama and atmosphere, and fulsome applause at the end. Highlights include some gorgeous string colour in the ‘Fac ut ardeat’, the way the orchestra coils around Kate Royal’s modulating phrase-ends in ‘Vidit suum’ (such tenderness from her) and the declamation in ‘Inflammatus et accensus’.

In the Organ Concerto, previously released by the LPO label with a different coupling, James O’Donnell plays relatively straight and lets the zest and colour of his registrations on the spruced-up RFH instrument do the character work. There are one or two moments when soloist and ensemble aren’t quite locked together but the chase-down of the Allegro giocoso is taut and the Molto agitato lovely and crisp. There is a certain advantage in having both orchestra and organ effectively play from the same stage; on the other side of the coin, I miss the cartoon irony, rampant charisma and fairground effects of Ian Tracey and the BBC Philharmonic under Yan Pascal Tortelier, a recording from Liverpool’s gargantuan Anglican Cathedral which shouldn’t work but does.

Against that piece, Poulenc’s Piano Concerto can seem overly long for the depth of its material. Or perhaps it needs more sculpting – and a few more clearly defined colours – than it gets here. Again there is some irony missing in the slow movement; the close but woolly recorded sound and the thick embrace of the LPO strings might not be considered ideal, despite Tharaud’s brilliance. Again the BBC Philharmonic, with Louis Lortie and Edward Gardner, are more hasty, clean and clear – all of which benefit the piece. But you don’t often get three such works on one disc, nor such artists all led by Nézet-Séguin’s communicative enthusiasm.