Almost 20 years since the LSO recorded its last Prokofiev symphony cycle, under Valery Gergiev (Philips, 6/06), Gianandrea Noseda, his sometime assistant at the Mariinsky Theatre, is halfway through his own. This time performances are sourced from widely scattered engagements at London’s Barbican Hall, with individual instalments available for download.

In the Sixth the switch of conductor brings a different focus. Where Gergiev directed with a toothpick and a broad brush, Noseda is more often to be found perspicaciously clarifying textures. Prokofiev’s structurally ambiguous opening movement has become more ‘classical’ and restrained in feeling save when Noseda shines new light on transitional passages. The chant-like second theme initially sung by two oboes is treated quite stiffly, more an extension of the main idea than the ‘retreat into the world of dreams’ anticipated in David Nice’s (very good) booklet note. It’s what leads up to it that encodes some kind of heartbreak, muted strings rendering their Poco più sostenuto bridge as an emotive sigh. Similar care is lavished on the later episode of weirdly throbbing horns over irregular low pizzicato heartbeats, a direct allusion to the composer’s failing health.

The slow movement receives another unexaggerated reading. In a symphony full of awkward doublings – Galina Vishnevskaya wrote of its sound world as ‘sharp and ringing, like the dripping of snow in spring’ – few make as much sense of them as Yevgeny Mravinsky and the Leningrad Philharmonic in Prague 1967 (Praga, 2/23). In London 2023 James Fountain’s vibrant Soviet-sounding trumpet line is not quite consistently balanced against the violins in their shared melody. The finale is precision-tooled with the relatively subdued reprise of the dolce e sognando oboe theme from the first movement seemingly no big deal. This makes the ensuing sonic earthquake all the more shocking. Mravinsky et al reimagine the very end as a slow grinding of gears but Noseda paces the final bars his own way, including a more exaggerated braking than the poco allargando in the score en route to a quick‑fire finish.

The blunt Barbican acoustic is well handled by the sound team and not necessarily wrong for the music even if Franz Welser-Möst’s rival download (Cleveland Orchestra, A/24) is easier on the ear. Meanwhile, older Soviet Russian options project an authenticity that cannot date however dodgy the sound.