Conducting the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, of which he is Artistic Director for Life, in his native Tallinn, Neeme Järvi continues to shine a welcome spotlight upon neglected repertoire, something he’s done on disc more than just about any other conductor. Aside from the Symphonie espagnole, Édouard Lalo’s music doesn’t get out much these days – in concert or on disc – which is a great shame, as his scores are highly melodic and colourfully scored. Who better to resuscitate a generous handful of them than the indefatigable Järvi, whose recent discs for Chandos have largely focused on French music for the ballet and opera stage?

The Overture to Lalo’s opera Le roi d’Ys was once a popular concert-opener. It’s given a muscular performance here, the opening brooding before its turbulent main theme breaks out amid brassy pomp. Solos for cello and clarinet are superbly phrased and the finale builds up a nice head of steam. It’s not quite as taut as Paul Paray and the Detroit Symphony on a classic Mercury recording but it makes for a rousing start to Järvi’s disc.

It’s followed by music from Namouna, a ballet set on the island of Corfu, inspired by a story in Casanova’s Mémoires. Adriani gambles away his fortune – and his slave girl, Namouna – to Ottavio, with whom Namouna falls in love. He sets her free and they frustrate Adriani’s attempted revenge. Debussy was a fan, later relating to Lalo’s son that ‘I was thrown out of the Opéra for overdoing my enthusiasm for that delicate masterpiece called Namouna’. After the 1882 premiere in Paris, Lalo salvaged two suites from his score – a third was planned but never published, the ‘Valse de la cigarette’ issued separately. The Suite No 1 was another Paray speciality. The Estonians can’t match the ebullience of the Detroit Symphony – the weighty sound doesn’t always help in scores that need light and air around them – but they play with spirit, especially in the ‘Fête foraine’.

Järvi offers both suites plus the ‘Valse de la cigarette’ here, blowing away competition from Yondani Butt and the RPO (ASV, 5/94). The ‘Danses marocaines’, based on music Lalo heard played by Moroccan musicians in a café at the 1878 Paris Exposition Universelle, rollicks along, as does the closing castanet-led Presto (the ‘Danse des esclaves’). In between, the movement marked Dolce far niente (‘La Sieste’) is beguilingly shaped, daintily played. The ‘Valse de la cigarette’ goes with a pleasant lilt.

We don’t move entirely away from the stage for the main work on the disc. Hugh Macdonald’s excellent booklet note explains how Lalo’s Symphony in G minor, another work to fall from favour, featured music that the composer had rescued from his opera Fiesque. Lalo’s opera wasn’t staged until 2007 (the 2006 concert premiere in Montpellier starred Roberto Alagna and was recorded by DG). It’s a fine work, not as sparkling as Bizet nor as memorable as Saint-Saëns, but well worth hearing. Thomas Beecham championed it and Järvi takes up Beecham’s mantle enthusiastically. The Vivace second movement bubbles along gleefully, there’s a wonderful flow to the beautiful Adagio, and the finale brings things to a vigorous conclusion.