If anything, Bělohlávek sounds even more fired-up [than on his previous recordings of these works]…His natural warmth and charm characteristically enchants the central scherzo’s prismatic textural shifts, while elsewhere he demonstrates a greater willingness to probe the dark side of this endlessly fascinating score…[Pohádka’s] radiant allure and pictorial splendour is brought stunningly to life by Bělohlávek.

The Intermezzo wears its Mahlerian overtones discreetly, not least that mesmeric passage where the funeral-march theme dissolves into overlapping pizzicatos. The Czech Philharmonic give their collective all; with the best sound Decca has yet achieved at the Rudolfinum, this can be placed next to Charles Mackerras as the finest modern Asrael.