Though not wishing to start on a downer, just sample the last minute or so of the Third Symphony in this rather perfunctory performance under Marcus Bosch, then turn to, say, Nikolaus Harnoncourt with the Berlin Philharmonic in the same passage, and Harnoncourt’s superiority strikes the ear almost immediately. Under Harnoncourt the music’s gently descending lines truly glow, distinctively but never conspicuously, and the gradual ‘dying away’ is beautifully handled. Bosch dismisses the page with barely a shrug and that goes for much else on the disc.

On the other hand, the Second Symphony starts promisingly, the timpanist using hard sticks, the general pace well chosen. But take Karl Böhm’s DG recording with the Vienna Philharmonic off the shelf and you soon realise what Bosch is missing: primarily a sense of scale and mystery. Böhm’s elasticity of phrasing and expansively drawn climaxes place him in a quite different league, not to mention the superiority of his orchestra (though the Aachen players are often fairly on the ball). A shame really, because Bosch’s Bruckner (same label) is refreshingly unmannered; but interpretative specifics that benefit Bruckner don’t necessarily benefit Brahms and there’s too much in both symphonies that comes across as matter-of-fact, unaffectionate and comparatively cavalier. Spirited routine – and that’s the most I can manage, I’m afraid, aside from some justified praise for generally good sound.