As one whose professional activities oblige him to have a knowledge of previous recordings of these three delectable symphonies by the 18-year-old Mozart, I find myself in a somewhat similar predicament to that of the character in that immortal lyric ''If it wasn't for the 'ouses in between''. Had I come to this disc without prior conditioning I might have simply sat back and enjoyed the always efficient playing of the ASMF—though I might well have wished for more 'presence' than the rather recessed sound here, which works against the music's intrinsic sparkle. But comparisons are inescapable, and I needs must take into account the best previous versions (including Marriner's own perfommances of these symphonies for Philips which form part of a six-CD box set 412 954-2PH6, 11/85). This time he has, in general, observed more repeats than formerly—though not so many as Mackerras (Telarc)—but, judged by the highest standards, the playing doesn't consistently show as much wide-awake imagination as it might. I felt this in particular in the enchanting A major Symphony whose charm is nevertheless irrepressible: the Andante is warmly moulded here, but the second subject of the opening movement (rather on the fast side for allegro moderato) sounds impassive and impersonal, and there were many more subtle nuances in Mackerras's version with the Prague Chamber Orchestra (though that was made in an over-reverberant acoustic).
In the jaunty Symphony No. 30 (about which Einstein is unnecessarily sniffy), though the Molto allegro is alert and the Andantino gracefully light-toned, the Menuetto is staid by the side of Mackerras's blithe reading, and the finale—the sheer comedy of whose ending makes one laugh aloud—does not match his joie de vivre. The insert-note writer's promise of ''trumpets and drums'' (my italics) in No. 30 is not borne out in Mozart's instrumentation, on the other hand, there appears to be no sign of the timpani in No 28, whose score does include them. Marriner takes the Andante's cantilena at an unusually leisurely pace and the Menuetto rather romantically, but his initial Allegro is truly spiritoso and neat, and the finale, taken very fast, more than ever resembles part of an opera buffa finale. It would be unjust were I to give the impression that there was not a lot here to enjoy, but it's not only the recorded sound that makes me prefer Marriner's earlier versions, where everyone seemed fresher.'