Here it would be nice to say we have two for the price of one: two versions of Pelléas and Mélisande from the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande – Schoenberg’s tone poem and an orchestral suite from Debussy’s opera. These are available on streaming services, of course, but if you want the physical set then you’ll need to pay for two CDs as this doesn’t seem to be available at the kind of two-for-one price you might expect for around 90 minutes of music.

There have been recordings of orchestral music from Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande before, usually in the 1946 version by Erich Leinsdorf, memorably recorded by Claudio Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic in 1998. They tend to be suites drawn from the orchestral interludes that link scenes in this most enigmatic of operas. But what conductor Jonathan Nott has done here is to go further, creating a 47-minute synthesis that draws on the interludes and the sung scenes involving the Pelleás-Mélisande-Golaud triangle that lies at its heart. It’s a deft bit of work, weaving those familiar, gossamer orchestral threads with vocal lines, which have been appropriated by solo instruments. The most successful of these is Mélisande’s song in the tower when she lets down her hair (‘Mes longs cheveux’), where her line is played most effectively by the cor anglais – a neat mirror to Schoenberg’s tone poem, where the instrument features in the love scene.

Founded by Ernest Ansermet in 1918, the OSR has a great pedigree in Debussy’s opera, notably its 1952 Decca recording (5/52). It’s wonderful to hear the orchestra in such good shape under Nott, the woodwinds – often something of an acquired taste in Ansermet’s day – in particularly fine fettle. The recording is much more closely miked than Abbado’s diaphanous Berlin Phil reading of the Leinsdorf suite so we get a lot more instrumental detail and thicker string textures, including great double bass presence. Nott’s pacing reveals a conductor well acquainted with Debussy’s score from stage performances.

Nott and the OSR also perform the Schoenberg well, a tougher nut to crack. They relish the knotty, dense orchestral writing while maintaining admirable clarity. There’s not quite the sheen of Herbert von Karajan’s Berlin Phil strings here, but Nott is alive to the score’s drama and this attractive coupling makes for an intriguing release.