Zdeněk Chalabala’s greatest claim to fame was as an opera conductor – in Prague, Brno and at the Bolshoi – and if asked to name his principal quality in purely orchestral music it would be that same theatrical flare. Most famous are his stereo versions of the four late Erben tone-poems by Dvořák (also on Supraphon), exceptional performances by any standards that still serve as credible benchmarks, even in comparison with Václav Talich. The present 1953 recording of Sheherazade suggests a very vivid narrative, with exceptional contributions from various Czech Philharmonic soloists – the (uncredited) concertmaster, principal cello and woodwind desk leads especially. Chalabala’s precise pointing of detail recalls the best of Reiner and Dorati (the second movement is good example) and his hard-driving approach to the more dramatic music pays dividends in ‘The Festival of Baghdad’, an exceptionally taut and incisive performance which actually sounds faster than it is and finds the Czech players on their toes every bar of the way.

The 1955 Night on the Bare Mountain is even more impressive, a free-spirited, swaggering performance, equally taut, with heavy brass choirs, biting strings, screeching woodwinds and a bass drum that at times sounds as if might be as well placed in Verdi’s ‘Dies irae’ (beam up 6’04”). The Gayaneh selections return us to 1953 for a spirited and often sensitive run of performances, the opening ‘Entrance’ providing a good example of Chalabala’s fiercely rhythmic approach, fiery but firm. He can be perky à la Beecham (‘Dance of the Rose Maidens’, with more delicious pointing), warmly expressive (‘Gayaneh’s Adagio’), rabble-rousing (‘Dance of the Highlanders’, ‘Fire’ and ‘Sabre Dance’) and up for a good dance (‘Gopak’). The selection is custom-built, which means that we hear a fair amount of unfamiliar music, including ‘Lyrical Duet’ (which includes the subsidiary theme of the ‘Sabre Dance’) and the nine and a half minutes’ worth of ‘Gayaneh and Giko’. All the recordings have been well transferred and, provided you’re not monophobic, this exciting double-pack should earn itself a favoured place in your collection, certainly for this repertory.