As ever with Martin Haselböck, the overall agenda on this disc centres firmly on historic performance practice. After his series of Liszt orchestral works, also with the Orchester Wiener Akademie (NCA), come the Beethoven symphonies recorded in the Viennese venues where they were first performed (four of the six halls still exist today, apparently). According to established sources these were the KK Hoftheater nächst der Burg for No 1 and the Theater an der Wien for No 2. Both of the present performances were recorded at the Landhausaal, Palais Niederösterreich, though, which I’m presuming is one of the ‘eight Viennese halls and theatres where the composer’s orchestral works were performed in his lifetime’ (I quote the booklet-note). So not quite what it says on the tin, as they say, but a good, resonant acoustic for what are basically sound ‘period’ performances, energetic and true.

Haselböck phrases the First Symphony’s opening Adagio molto very attentively and sticks with the fast metronome for the ensuing Allegro con brio. The second subject sounds a little hurried but the momentum is maintained well throughout the development section, which is nicely pointed and, again, effectively articulated. The second movement strides forth with what sounds like imperious indifference and some lack of affection; the Scherzo wants for detail among the timps, which certainly doesn’t apply at the start of the finale, the main body of which fires off on all cylinders.

The Second Symphony’s slow introduction has little sense of gravitas about it: Haselböck cues a firm, no-nonsense statement that contrasts markedly with, say, Brüggen (his latest recording especially) and Skrowaczewski. The properly swift Allegro con brio battles away heroically, though the strings are sometimes overwhelmed by the brass. The Larghetto is chaste and kept very much on the move, the energetic Scherzo and finale treated to lively, well-differentiated tempi. So the message comes across loud and clear, or at least most of it does. For added depth and perspective I’d recommend Skrowaczewski (Oehms) and Brüggen (Glossa, 1/13) with Zinman (RCA, 5/99) in reserve – the Old Guard of Karajan, Klemperer, Toscanini, Furtwängler et al is something else again – though it’ll be interesting to see how this Haselböck series develops. Initial impressions are at the very least encouraging.