Here's a case in point. The Sea and Sinbad's Ship flows and surges effortlessly, its endless repetitions kept afloat by buoyant rhythms, clear textures (winds always audible), and an accompaniment that never becomes monotonous. The second-movement instrumental soloists have all of Beecham's elegance but also a touch more energy. In the third movement, Kempe milks the tunes for all they're worth but happily stays in tempo, while the finale, again like Beecham, isn't especially quick but manages through careful string articulation and exceptionally well-judged balances to generate as much excitement as some of the more overtly virtuosic versions. And unlike Beecham, the final shipwreck has both amplitude and a clearly audible bottom end.

The couplings include a zesty performance of Jaromir Weinberger's once ubiquitous but now rare Polka and Fugue from Schwanda the Bagpiper along with a bouncy Dvorák Scherzo capriccioso, let down only by a Berlin Philharmonic that in 1958 was on no one's list of the world's great ensembles. Still, they play with considerable verve, and Dvorák was another one of those surprising Kempe specialties, his more colorful orchestration catching the conductor's fancy far more than did, say, Brahms. Fine remastering completes an irresistible package.