This packed final instalment of Saint-Saëns from the Utah Symphony under Thierry Fischer frames Carnival of the Animals with two symphonies written when the composer was still a teenager. The zoological fantasy may be the draw, but the symphonies steal the show. There are few if any signs that the classically-proportioned Symphony in A major is the work of a 15-year old. The spirits of Mendelssohn, Schubert and, of course, Beethoven can be felt in the lightness of the Scherzo, the shades of dark and light in the slow introductions, and the periodic concentration on a brief musical fragment. It's a remarkable assuredness that is admirably engaging in this lithe performance, even if Saint-Saëns himself might have pressed harder on the accelerator at the end.

Much the same might be said for the composer's official First Symphony, written three years later and for a larger range of orchestral colour. The occasional detail gets blurred in the cavernous Abravanel Hall, but Fischer still draws clean yet warm textures from his Utah players, with careful touches such as uncovered timpani mallets … a welcome disc for the wonderful performances of the symphonies.