Proceedings are launched in fine style with a supremely affectionate and agreeably lithe account of the immensely personable concerto that Walton conceived for the great Jascha Heifetz. Anthony Marwood proves an enviably secure and articulate soloist, and if Tasmin Little (Chandos) manages to convey a tad greater warmth, caprice and flair (her alliance with Edward Gardner and the BBC SO is an especially gratifying one), he and Brabbins nonetheless generate a nourishing rapport, and their consistently absorbing performance will unquestionably give lasting pleasure.

Next comes the by turns exuberant and sultry Partita that Walton wrote in 1957 as a showpiece for George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra. That same legendary team, of course, went on to make a dazzling recording of it as well as the superb 1963 Variations on a Theme by Hindemith, so it’s some measure of these scrupulously alert newcomers’ achievement that they do not emerge disgraced from the comparison. In fact, Brabbins’s uncommonly cogent and commendably observant treatment of the Variations strikes me as just about the best I’ve encountered since Vernon Handley’s characteristically unforced and wonderfully perceptive 1988 Bournemouth SO account (last available on a British Composers reissue, 5/06). The Spitfire Prelude and Fugue (which Walton fashioned from his score for the 1942 film The First of the Few) makes a roistering bonus.

Bundle in Hyperion’s superior production values, detailed annotation by Robert Matthew-Walker and some most attractive artwork, and it all adds up to a thoroughly desirable package.