Mark Elder presides over a strikingly lissom and cogent account of the mighty Fifth. Not only do the Hallé respond with commendable poise, commitment and personality, Elder paces proceedings judiciously, his comparatively fleet-of-foot conception evincing a keen thrust and sparky intellect that put me in mind of the second of Rattle’s three versions (with the CBSO – EMI, 4/88) and Ole Schmidt’s trenchant RPO account (Regis, 1/06). Painstaking preparation goes hand in hand with a frequently captivating, almost Mediterranean warmth, particularly in the central Andante mosso, quasi allegretto. Listen out, too, for the strings’ Barbirolli-like portamento at five bars after fig N (5'13") in the finale, after which the symphony’s towering peroration unfolds with both thrilling nobility and a genuine sense of homecoming. A Fifth of undoubted stature, then, both inevitable and involving, truthfully engineered, and certainly meriting the enthusiastic reception it receives from the Bridgewater Hall audience.

En saga was set down the following day in the same venue. By the side of, say, Okko Kamu’s bracingly idiomatic Helsinki RSO account (still fresh in my memory from DG’s handsome Sibelius Edition, 12/15), Elder’s, for all its trim energy and rhythmic snap, perhaps takes a little while to catch fire. However, tension levels rise markedly from two after fig N (8'21") onwards (where the shrieking piccolo registers marvellously), and the work’s climactic wild ride likewise generates plenty of giddy excitement. A fine clarinet solo in the dusky coda, too, if not quite as raptly poetic as some rivals (the Boston SO/Davis, Swedish RSO/Mikko Franck and Neeme Järvi’s Gothenburg SO remake, to name but three).

As for the Seventh, captured live some four and a half years earlier than the rest, I appreciate its thoughtful sensitivity, seamlessly judged transitions and abundance of scrupulously observant detail. On the downside, though, those hard-working Hallé violins are a tad lacking in tonal clout, especially in and around the symphony’s refulgent apex (try from fig Y, 19’05”), and the performance as a whole oddly fails to ignite, falling some way short of the craggy strength, elemental force and electrical charge so evident in front-runners such as Koussevitzky, Bernstein (Sony), Maazel (Decca), Mravinsky, Davis (in Boston and live in London), Berglund (in Helsinki), Vänskä and Segerstam (Ondine). Still, this CD is worth hearing for the Fifth alone, and anyone following Elder’s Sibelius cycle will need no further incentive to purchase.