This is a good, practical interpretation of The Sleeping Beauty. The playing by the Bergen Philharmonic is strong and spirited; Järvi’s conducting is rational, adopting as it does the natural pacings and colouristic inflections from which it is possible to appreciate the character of the dances in one’s mind’s eye, all the more so with the excellent synopsis included in the booklet. And there are bonuses in the fact that James Ehnes is the scintillating violin soloist in Aurora’s variations in Acts 1 and 3, and in the Act 2 Entr’acte, with the American cellist Robert deMaine playing with discreet passion the solo part in the Pas d’action of Act 2, the theme poignantly related to the slow movement of the Fifth Symphony that Tchaikovsky had completed shortly before embarking on The Sleeping Beauty.

While such numbers as the ‘Rose Adagio’, the ‘Garland Waltz’ and the Act 2 ‘Panorama’ inevitably stand out as inspired landmarks in this long score, the motivic cross-references lend it a certain amount of structural cohesion and in general Järvi does a sound job in sustaining the dramatic flow, coming into his own with climactic drive in such set pieces as Aurora’s awakening during the Act 2 Entr’acte symphonique. The first CD ends about 10 minutes into Act 2, with the rest of the ballet on the second disc. But a split has to be made somewhere and this one does not unduly mar a performance that captures so much of the music’s charm, vigour and breadth.