John Wilson and the Sinfonia of London follow up their highly acclaimed collection of scores from the Golden Age of Film Music (Hollywood Soundstage) with Rachmaninoff’s Third Symphony and The Isle of the Dead. The Third Symphony requires rhythmic precision and intensity in the brassy sections plus enough expansiveness and instrumental richness to make the big Rachmaninoff melodies work. After the soft initial motif that will become the motto theme, a sudden brass outburst is suitably explosive, then the glorious string melody sounds just a bit fast and restless. Wilson does not tend to wallow in Romantic effusions. He whips the orchestra into a controlled frenzy at the end. The Isle of the Dead with its dark tone and orchestration is in some ways Rachmaninoff’s signature work. Wilson gets the rhythm of the oars in Arnold Böcklin’s painting just right. The Sinfonia of London plays brilliantly, but it does not match Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra, and is therefore almost by definition not quite ideal Rachmaninoff, because of the association of this music with the Philadelphia Orchestra. The Chandos SACD sound is outstanding and contributes in a major way to the success of the recording.