I found the opening of this disc—a performance of the Haffner March that careers between the mincing and the ultra-pompous—so disconcerting that I almost stopped listening there. But duty called, and after all it could only improve: which it duly did. The first movement proper receives a sturdy, rather speedy reading, which if it does not quite give the music its full weight at least presents it in lively fashion. In the second Frans Bruggen produces some pleasantly soft orchestral textures above which Lucy van Dael's solo playing seems a little bland and uninvolved, in the Rondo she is amply agile but does not do much with the music—she does not seem ready to give her imagination much play and indeed the opportunities for it and even for warmth of expression are largely passed up. All three minuets are attractively done: Bruggen finds just the right gait for them and characterizes their trios happily. The Andante, however, he takes rather too quickly to make much of its graceful vein of sentiment, but the finale is certainly done with ample high spirits. In sum, this is an acceptable performance but not quite one to convey, I think, the special qualities of the work, Mozart's only major orchestral piece of this period and one that does show a new approach to symphonic composition.
Of the other versions noted above, the one by Collegium Aureum on Deutsche Harmonia Mundi is more than 20 years old and is a rather ordinary reading without great vitality. I was critical of the Koopman/Erato when it first appeared but have to say that it sounds better now—the tempos are measured by comparison with Bruggen's (I am thinking particularly of the first movement and the Andante) and Pavlo Beznosiuk's solo playing, if still on the cool side, has more glitter and is technically a shade better assured. The acoustic, however, is rather hollow and boomy which does not help the sound of the period-instrument band. Bruggen's group, following what has recently been shown to have been Salzburg practice in some repertories in Mozart's time, is without cellos, but much larger than Koopman's (strings 9.9.6.0.3 against 4.4.2.2.1), which produces a perfectly satisfactory sound. On balance I would choose Koopman's of these three period-instrument recordings, but might simply prefer to wait.'