Prokofiev’s Sixth Symphony may or may not be his finest orchestral work but its unique instrumental texture and curious, elusive structure make it difficult to play, tricky to conduct and problematic to record. If you deem that opaque, Soviet-style sonority to be part and parcel of the intended expressive effect, you may feel short-changed by the very qualities Andrew Litton and his team bring to the table. Set against the expressive and sonic vehemence of Valery Gergiev and the LSO in London’s Barbican Hall, Litton and his orchestra sound nimble, translucent and just a tad underpowered. Then again, with relatively few fluctuations of tempo within the unforced pulse set for each movement, the clarity of the argument is never in doubt. And Litton’s restraint ensures that the music’s final turn to tragedy has enormous shock impact – a credit to BIS’s sound engineering. Surprisingly, perhaps, the work’s closing gestures are rendered without the apocryphal grinding of gears favoured by Evgeny Mravinsky, Neeme Järvi, Vladimir Ashkenazy and Gergiev himself. The American conductor prefers a knowingly implausible dash to the finishing line.

The couplings, no doubt easier to bring off, are better still. The Lieutenant Kijé suite stands out from a crowded field thanks to Litton’s alert pacing, a heightened awareness of colour and, in those items sung in the original film, the participation of promising baritone Andrei Bondarenko in lieu of tenor sax. Texts and translations are provided. Bringing up the rear, the earlier Love for Three Oranges selection is wonderfully dashing and virile, but why present the whole programme in reverse chronological order when a comprehensive symphony cycle is planned? Perhaps it is only older readers who listen to complete discs these days. Unavoidably something of a curate’s egg, the recording achieves demonstration standard in those iridescent shorter pieces which can take a leaner bass. Recommended.