I never cease to marvel at the scholarship lavished on the chronology of Haydn symphonies, presumably since so many were composed in the comparative isolation of Eisenstadt, that mosquito-infested backwater of the Habsburg Empire. Should it be called Hobokenitis or perhaps, Robbins Landon Syndrome? That aside, conductor Benjamin Spillner excels at nailing the contrasting facets of Haydn’s personality: the forcefulness and the elegance, the seriousness and the wit, the melancholy and exuberance.

Even in these early works, Haydn displays his inventiveness: in No 37, the movements are fast, moderately slow, and slow. Similarly, in No 38 the Minuet and slow movement are transposed. Symphony No 63, like the other two,...