Adam Fischer gave us a superb set of Haydn symphonies back in the 1990s and more recently some fine early Mozart operas recorded in Denmark where he has recorded these symphonies over the last seven years – now economically released as box set. His approach applies “historically informed performance practice” and he does his best to make his modern orchestra sound like a period band. 

I must admit that 20 years ago I would have happily embraced this approach but nowadays I miss the singing phrase and emotional gravitas of the much maligned old-school manner – George Szell proved that the 19th-century orchestra could play this music with clarity, bite AND romantic expression so it can be done! Here vibrato is eschewed and textures are lean and mean; I appreciate the delicate wisps of string sound and well projected wind playing but the period hard-stick timpani and braying horns grate on repetition. 

The brisk tempi and crisp accents generate a breathless excitement with details blurred instead of clearly enunciated. While the approach works in the early symphonies, rooted in their 18th century context, the later symphonies that look forward to the early romantic sound world are seriously short-changed. 

But then, maybe I’m just old fashioned – I’m sure many will enjoy these discs and appreciate their no-nonsense vigour recorded with cool clarity and superb sound.