Sir Charles Mackerras and the London Philharmonic Orchestra shared a musical heritage spanning 45 years, and this live recording of Dvorák’s Symphonic Variations and Symphony No.8 from 1992 pays tribute to a partnership that exuded a joy and vivacity in music making.

There is no shortage of fine recordings of these two wonderful Dvořák works and Sir Charles Mackerras has recorded Dvořák’s complete orchestral oeuvre - first with EMI Eminence (copies of which are now hard to find) and, over the years, for Supraphon. More recently he also recorded a selection of Dvořák works with the Philharmonia Orchestra.

What these performances benefit from is the spontaneity of the live concert environment. Originally recorded for archive purposes by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, such recordings are impossible to overlook when the music making is as fine as it is here. Mackerras had a gift for uncovering the individual DNA in a composer’s music - and he did this with aplomb with Dvořák.

The Symphonic Variations show Mackerras’ complete understanding of Dvořák. The subtlety and lightness of touch he brings to the waltz episode contrasts with the control and care of the percussion balance in the Scherzo capriccioso.

His conducting of Symphony No.8 is sublime. Conductor and orchestra are at one and here Mackerras shows the ability to seemingly turn every phrase into a symphonic essay.

Recorded live at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, London, on 24 April 1992.