Andrew Litton began his Prokofiev symphony cycle with a successful reading of the profound yet problematic Sixth (6/13). The Fifth presents fewer difficulties save perhaps in the second movement, when the main scherzo idea skulks in at a slower tempo before accelerating up to speed, and at the very end of the symphony where Prokofiev suddenly reduces the dynamic level as if to confront us with the compromised quality of the rejoicing. Some august ensembles have been found wanting in these awkward corners. Litton favours a relatively abrupt transition in the first instance and he keeps a tight grip on the fretful bustle at the close, helped by his incisive, un gabbled treatment of the finale as a whole.

Litton is not usually a conductor prone to interpretative extremes and apart from some oddly articulated braking, momentarily intrusive in the opening movement, there is little to criticise and much to admire. Hereabouts we are conceptually closer to Karajan than speed merchants such as Jansons or Gergiev, not that anyone else is quite so seamlessly monolithic. The Bergen orchestra’s brittle winds and relatively gritless sonority may disappoint those who consider a darker, thicker kind of sound de rigueur in this music but you get to hear piano lines usually buried and well-defined percussion. With bright (over-bright?) state-of-the-art sound engineering the effect is almost disconcertingly crystalline. The Adagio slow movement is especially luminous, fading out with tender regret.

There have been earthier recordings of the Scythian Suite but none airier or more teeming with detail. Audiophiles will almost certainly find this more satisfying than Marin Alsop’s new recording (reviewed above), but then it does come at premium price. The booklet-notes are sensibly balanced (Andrew Huth) and one of Kazimir Malevich’s most memorable images informs the artwork.