Yet again Sir Colin Davis demonstrates his supreme mastery as a Berlioz interpreter in this live recording made at the Barbican in February this year. What is specially fascinating is to compare this latest version of Harold en Italie not just with the earlier Davis version I have listed but with the even earlier one which he recorded for HMV in 1962 with Yehudi Menuhin as soloist (8/63), one of his earliest recordings of Berlioz, sadly no longer available.

Interpretatively, the biggest contrast this time is the extra tautness of Davis’s interpretation, with speeds consistently faster, sometimes markedly so. Not only that, the textures are sparer, sharper and lighter – partly a question of live as opposed to studio recording – bringing an extra incisiveness all round. One other benefit is that the soloist, the magnificent Tabea Zimmermann, is balanced as part of the orchestra instead of being spotlit.

The beauty of her tone, with its nut-brown colours on the C-string, is never masked, but at the other end of the spectrum the balance allows pianissimi of a delicacy never achieved by the excellent Nobuko Imai on the 1975 Philips version, even though she may well have been playing just as quietly, or by the rich-toned Menuhin, by far the most relaxed of the three soloists, who prefers lyrical expansion to urgency, affecting the young Davis accordingly. In the slow introduction the soloist’s first entry is with the lyrical motto theme, and immediately there is a repeat marked ‘pianissimo possibile’, which is just what you hear in magic tones from Zimmermann (track 1, 3'30").

It follows that the fierceness of the Allegros with their quirky bursts of high dynamic contrasts is enhanced on the new disc, even though the full orchestral sound is not quite as full-bodied as on the 1975 Philips. The first movement, ‘Harold in the Mountains’, is the one most markedly faster and tauter this time (some 2'30" shorter in overall timing than with Menuhin), and the more flowing speed for the second movement, ‘Pilgrims’ March’, makes all the difference in establishing the feeling of a marching procession, with the surprisingly gentle dynamic markings meticulously observed. Though the third movement ‘Serenade’ is faster this time, the skipping rhythms are more infectious, with dotted rhythms sparklingly pointed by the oboists at the start, and the ‘Brigands’ Orgy’ of the finale very clearly gains in dramatic flair from the extra incisiveness.

The Ballet Music taken from Davis’s prize-winning LSO Live version of Les troyens makes an atmospheric bonus, and as ever one marvels that such wonders can come on a disc at super-budget price, complete with authoritative notes by David Cairns.