You'll hear balletic athleticism from strings and woodwind with brazen brass and hard-edged timpani. Add a lissom shapeliness to phrasing that goes beyond a literal obedience to slurs, a pulse that is never tied inflexibly to the bar-line, and it would be easy to assume the presence of an erudite, established conductor. Stefan Vladar might not be considered established but he is certainly erudite, and is not a nervous soloist/director.

Not that he need have had apprehensions about Camerata Salzburg. This excellent band is totally with him, responsive to his requirements for a brightly painted K467 or dusky-hued K491. But some of Vladar's interpretative decisions may arouse discomfort because he does not follow a fi safe course. The speed for the slow movement of K467 is fast for andante and is at odds with what's hitherto been familiar, starting with Artur Schnabel's soul-searching. The penultimate A flat section of the Larghetto of K491 borders on jauntiness while the finale might be considered too swift for allegretto. But the time signature in both cases is alla breve; and Vladar always achieves cohesion through a feel for tempo relationships allied to variedly expressive articulation. He also embellishes lines and cadences, and contributes some continuo in K491.

Mozart left no cadenzas and Vladar's (presumably) fill the bill; but Harmonia Mundi has resorted to the cheap practice of recording them at a higher level. Sound and balance are otherwise very good, fortunately so because Vladar's musicianship merits the closest attention.