Does it tell you something if I say that when I audition a new recording of
the Brahms Second Concerto I always go straight to the opening of the third
movement, to see how the principal cellist plays that delectable
long-limbed melody?

The cello on the Hough recording passes muster.

Side note:  When I bought the Hough/Brahms concerto set on Virgin, I first
played the Second, as described above, and then went to the First, only to
find that it *wasn't* the first, but someone playing Debussy pieces.  I was
irritated, but kept listening, and inside one minute decided I didn't need
the First Concerto after all.

Scott Morrison