I approached these performances with some trepidation, as the lovely promise shown in the opening movements of the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin’s recent recording of the Pastoral Symphony (4/20) was ultimately thwarted by prosaic phrasing in the Thunderstorm and finale. Happily, there’s nothing so disappointing in their alert and finely detailed accounts of the first two symphonies.

As on the previous disc, the orchestra’s string section is quite small – just 20 players. Such pared-down numbers are necessary for the members of a conductor-less ensemble to maintain visual contact with one another, leader Bernhard Forck explains in the booklet note. The orchestra’s seating is unusual, as well, with the upper strings placed stage left (so no antiphonal play of the violins, unfortunately), lower strings at the centre and the winds stage right. When playing en masse, the strings have reasonable power and punch; otherwise they can sound thin – those demisemiquaver scales in the slow introduction to the Second, for instance.

If you’re not bothered by the sometimes meagre string sound, there’s much to savour here. The outer movements have tremendous energy – so much so that in the opening Allegro con brio of the Second, even the silences are electric (at 4'04", say), and note, too, how they make the coda such a satisfying culmination (beginning around 11'22"). They adhere to the metronome marks, but not slavishly. They start the Second’s Larghetto close to the marked quaver=92, for example, but quickly settle into a more gemütlich gait that allows them the breathing-room to make expressive sense of every swell, sforzando and ornament. I can’t remember ever hearing the Trio of the First Symphony’s Menuetto rendered with such delicacy, and the wind-playing is marvellous throughout – listen, say, to the shifting colours at 3'21" in the Second’s finale.

The Berliners’ Pastoral was coupled with Knecht’s oddly fascinating Nature Symphony (1783). I’m not convinced that the pair of CPE Bach’s symphonies offered here is an ideal foil for Beethoven’s, although the performances are altogether compelling. Indeed, as with the best of CPE’s music, nearly every phrase offers some surprise, and the Akademie musicians are responsive to them all.

As usual with recordings from this source, the sound is excellent – atmospheric and well balanced, allowing for a natural sense of transparency. Warmly recommended.