Amazingly, this release is part of the ACO’s 50th anniversary in 2025 – quite an achievement. The two big pieces in this celebratory album are Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings and Shostakovich’s Chamber Symphony (aka the String Quartet No. 8), both of which, as the liner notes have it, “form a central part of the ACO’s performing repertoire and showcase the Orchestra’s best qualities”.

They begin with the Tchaikovsky Serenade, which is immediately ear-catching with the ACO’s rich performance style suiting the opening Pezzo in forma di sonatina down to a tee. The Waltz whips us round the dancefloor, while the closing Finale is an absolute charmer. Next up is a little more Tchaik, with the Andante Cantabile for cello and strings, which began life as the slow movement from the String Quartet No. 1. What a tune, though! Cellist Timo-Veikko Valve gives a stirring performance here, and I’d imagine that live there’d not be a dry eye in the house.