Ever since the Naxos label opened the recherché repertoire sluice gates to record every note ever written, one of the main beneficiaries has been the mid-European symphonic and piano concerto repertoire. Most of these works are pleasant, with the occasional outstanding exception, but many are relatively forgettable.

Even the majority of the symphonies of a composer as revered as Antonín Dvořák are rarely heard. Nos. 1 to 4 have never made in-roads into the mainstream repertoire, appearing only in complete recorded cycles.

The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s inaugural instalment of their Dvořák cycle with Chief Conductor Jaime Martín alerted me to the Fifth and Sixth in wonderful performances.

The neglect of the early four is particularly unfortunate in the case of the Second Symphony, which also happens to be the longest of all. My first encounter was decades ago in the old István Kertesz Decca recording of the late 60s and I’ve always loved it. It’s a veritable cornucopia of rich, warm melodies by a young man flexing his musical muscles and revelling in his melodic gifts. There’s not much regard for form or coherence, but...