A touching tribute to Colin Davis from the orchestra with which he was latterly most closely associated. Sir Colin was among the most assiduous champions of composers such as Berlioz and Tippett, flying in the face of prevailing fashion and ultimately changing minds about the worth of their music. But, like so many musicians, one of his private passions was for Haydn – a composer who perhaps needed no such special pleading but whose reputation can only have benefited from the affection bestowed upon him by the likes of Davis.

There is, of course, a set of all 12 ‘London’ Symphonies which Davis made with the Concertgebouw Orchestra between 1975 and 1981. (There is also a 1983 Oxford Symphony from the same quarters but that’s long out of print.) What these LSO performances share with those earlier discs is their sense of rightness, of a conductor who knows in his bones exactly how this music should ‘go’, with details lovingly observed but never lingered over to make specious points. Perhaps younger musicians take, say, the finale of the Oxford Symphony at a more madcap speed, relishing its freewheeling audacity; but Davis identifies the tempo giusto again and again, slow movements expansive without dragging, minuets paced with respect for their terpsichorean origins and allegros always ideally judged.

The chief difference between the Concertgebouw and LSO sets is the sound: in contrast to the spaciousness and warmth of the Amsterdam hall, the Barbican only offers the cramped, two-dimensional acoustic to which we’ve become so accustomed. There are also one or two moments that might in studio conditions have been retaken. The only real disappointment, however, is Symphony No 98, complete with harpsichord buzzing away almost throughout (rather than saved for the closing coup de théâtre as in the RCO recording): this symphony takes too long to settle into its pace and suffers from some botched ensemble.

The rest, though, is wall-to-wall satisfaction, making one marvel anew at Haydn’s unquenchable inventiveness in symphony after symphony. Sir Colin’s affinity with and love for this music is palpable as he (very audibly) hums and sings along, and the hard-bitten LSO have clearly caught the bug too, playing with style and sensitivity for their erstwhile chief.