The 150th anniversary of Sergei Rachmaninoff's birth occurred last Saturday (1 April) and to mark the occasion, Chandos released a recording of the composer’s second symphony with the much-acclaimed Sinfonia of London and John Wilson.

Symphony No 2 was composed in Dresden, where Rachmaninoff was escaping the political and professional pressures of Russia – in 1906/07.

As a conductor, Wilson, the Sinfonia and Chandos receive many superlative accolades and justly so. This album is yet another example of a great collaboration that just keeps giving. The Second Symphony is, like the Piano Concerto 2, a popular favourite and one could ask with an overabundance of discs featuring the composition, is there room for another? Well, with Wilson and the Sinfonia of London, the answer is an emphatic yes.

With Wilson’s interpretations there is always something to look out for and this is no exception.

The Sinfonia bring out the beauty without over-sentimentalising and it is rich in colour, each section highlighting Rachmaninoff’s skill at orchestration. One of the Sinfonia’s hallmarks is the quality of the string playing and here, whether it be the opening of the first movement, or the pizzicato in the adagio accompanying the clarinet, they simply delight.

That famous menacing opening to the first movement is ravishing and sets the scene for the whole symphony. The strings rhythmic vigour release energy as Wilson builds a wonderful gripping intensity; as the movement closes the interaction between woodwind and strings is lovely, holding the listener in its grasp.

The second movement is taken faster than I have heard for some time, but it delivers as it glides to its conclusion. Wilson’s Sinfonia is lithe yet strong and powerful, the underlying tension intensifying as it disappears into the ether.

The Phrasing in the adagio is sublime without over-romanticising, the clarinet solo wonderful; who cannot stop and think when this theme embraces our soul, the taut, delicate strings holding the listener rapt as the movement closes serenely before passing to the coruscation of the allegro vivace. The symphonic writing is passionate, and the Sinfonia is ardently pulling us to a wonderful conclusion where nothing is compromised, Wilson knows what he wants to achieve, and the rhythmic accuracy and tempo drive us to shout Bravo at the end.

The performance reinforces the widely held view that the symphony, one of the composer’s largest works after the operas, is one of his greatest. It was first performed in St Petersburg and Moscow conducted by the composer, was an immediate success with audiences and critics alike, and remains a mainstay of the orchestral repertoire to this day.

Rachmaninov’s C-sharp minor Prelude, originally for piano as orchestrated by Stokowski, is a fantastic addition: listen to those strings as well as the brass -everything is so controlled and superbly recorded in Surround Sound and is available as a hybrid SACD, and in spatial audio.