Strauss’s Josephslegende is a bit of a slog. An hour-long ballet, written for Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes and premiered in Paris in 1914, it ignited vituperative critical debate between Bernard Shaw (pro) and Ernest Newman (anti) when Beecham conducted the score in London. The modern listener, accustomed to the whole span of Strauss’s output, might plump for a point of view somewhere between the extremes of Shaw and Newman.

There are lovely things in Josephslegende – many of them retained in the Symphonic Fragment that Strauss distilled from the full ballet in 1947 – but it does tend to go on. The complete synopsis by Hofmannsthal and Count Harry Kessler (who dreamt up the more fruitful idea of Der Rosenkavalier) is usefully printed in the booklet accompanying the CD but even so it is hard to think that Strauss was wholeheartedly compelled by the project. If Stravinsky’s ballets, for example, readily make the transition from theatre to concert hall, Strauss’s Josephslegende, while at times enlivened by the dramatic flair and lyrical allure familiar from his symphonic poems, suffers from longueurs where the inspiration seems to dip.

The RSNO under Neeme Järvi perform it with aplomb and with plenty of colour derived from the massive palette of orchestration but those who want the entire Josephslegende already have a fine interpretation from Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra. The Love Scene from Feuersnot and the vigorous Festmarsch make for useful fill-ups.