The conductor here is Lance Friedel, an American who has a fairly wide repertoire that embraces the likes of Carl Nielsen and Bohuslav Martinů. Is Friedel slumming it here? Perhaps, but seconds into Hérold’s Zampa overture it’s clear he is having a ball; after all, there’s nothing like a bit of seduction and flirtation with the supernatural to get the pulse racing. And that’s exactly what happens in this feisty overture, played here with tremendous brio and bite.

The performances are as vibrant as the music itself. Friedel has the Royal Scottish National Orchestra playing with real brilliance and warmth. It sounds like everyone is having a good time, with crisp rhythms at the climaxes, well-balanced percussion that never becomes obnoxious, and a certain easy elegance in the many lyrical passages that the music absolutely demands. Friedel never takes the music for granted just because it’s “light.”