In 90 years’ time when DG releases a Great Conductors of the 21st-Century series, Dudamel will surely be in it.

This 3-CD set finds the Venezuelan in repertoire far removed from his Latin American fireworks and it is a triumphant success. This conductor always manages to elicit tight ensemble from orchestral musicians: attack is clean, balance clear, and the music never loses a sense of propulsion. On top of that he gets his players to characterise every moment: dramatic points are exciting and lyrical themes attacked with a heart-on-sleeve level of commitment. 

The Nielsen symphonies display these attributes perfectly, not just at obvious moments like the chaotic snare drum cadenza in the Fifth, but also the soaring string cantilenas of its second movement. To my surprise, Dudamel’s pointing also pays dividends in Bruckner, giving life and variety to that composer’s sometimes two-dimensional orchestration. Pizzicato string passages and ethereal woodwind solos jump out of the texture.

In the Sibelius Second I could have done with more warmth. The big Tchaikovskian climaxes in the finale lack the weight they receive from Colin Davis in Boston or Barbirolli. Dudamel is at his best in the Scherzo, which...