It may seem a bizarre combination having a Welsh conductor with a French orchestra in this very British music but it works wonderfully well. The French players seem perfectly drilled in the intricate rhythmic complexities of Walton’s often jagged writing in these highly enjoyable performances, which also bring out the lyrical warmth of Walton’s endlessly memorable melodies, a perfect combination of the jazzy vigour and warm romanticism that lies at the heart of Walton’s music.

In the 1930s when the First Symphony was written, Walton was regarded as adventurously modern, influenced by the example of Sibelius’s symphonies, but when he wrote the Second, between 1957 and 1960, his music was out of fashion in times when serialism was in the ascendant. Nowadays that change of fashion is of no importance, for what matters is having two such attractive, invigorating works. That especially applies to the First Symphony, an iconic work of its period. In the astringent first three movements, the long crescendos of naggingly repetitious ostinatos are firmly controlled by Hughes, while the emotional climax of the slow movement is cathartic in just the right way. The finale leads on naturally to the style of Walton’s film music, with Hughes controlling the build-up of the two big fugatos most effectively.

The Second Symphony inhabits a much less tortured world with many beauties, as for example in the very opening with its gentle percussion and use of piano. Here the jagged syncopations are not so much electrifying as simply vigorous, while the slow movement comes closest to the mood of the equivalent movement of the First Symphony. The finale brings a typical touch of Waltonian tongue-in-cheek humour: the theme for his passacaglia variations is a 12-note row, enunciated boldly in unison at the start and the conclusion.

These symphonies have been paired on CD before, on an EMI Eminence disc conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras, but this is no longer available. With magnetic performances and clear recorded sound, this is a disc to recommend warmly. I hope Hughes will now go on to record more Walton.