Director and fortepianist Jos van Immerseel is a veritable pioneer of period Mozart. Belgian period-instrument orchestra Anima Eterna’s exuberant performances reveal a natural union of pioneering spirit and refreshing musical flavours. The performers show commendable integrity in their approach to using historical instruments: the characteristics and origins of the solo instruments are each enthusiastically described in the booklet-note but the loving care given to detail in this joyful music means this is never in danger of seeming merely a dour academic exercise.

The invigorating Concerto for two pianos (Salzburg, 1779-80) opens proceedings with a revitalising fix of blazing horns, vibrant woodwind and articulate strings. Anima Eterna’s stunning playing in the tuttis is perfectly balanced with the fluent playing of Immerseel and Yoko Kaneko. After such joie de vivre, the Flute and Harp Concerto (Paris, 1778) features sensitively judged playing from Frank Theuns and Marjan de Haer. I have rarely encountered such an affectionate and warmly stylish performance of the Allegro, and the Andantino is ravishing.

Ulrich Hübner plays with attractive immediacy in the Third Horn Concerto, composed around 1787: the poetic Romance has a lyrical elegance one seldom hears from even the best natural horn players, and an infectiously sunny performance of the dance-like Allegro concludes this magnificent recording with a charismatic flourish. These performances are radiant: if you buy only one Mozart CD this anniversary year, let it be this one.

The Concertgebouw survey of four wind concertos dates across a fair span of Mozart’s adulthood. The First Horn Concerto was composed for Mozart’s friend Joseph Leutgeb at Vienna in 1791; modern-day counterpart Jacob Slagter employs a warmly refulgent tone in his lively performance. Next, we have the First Flute Concerto (Paris, 1778). Emily Beynon’s neatly executed, charming playing is well suited to the celebratory, sunny first movement. The Concertgebouw strings contribute hushed accompaniment in the Andante ma non troppo.

Mozart’s Salzburg years are represented by his Bassoon Concerto (1774) and Oboe Concerto (written in 1777 for the Italian oboist Giuseppe Ferlendis, who had joined the Salzburg court only a few months before). Bassoonist Gustavo Nuñez plays with fruity directness, displaying stunning agility in the Allegro and poignant playing in the Andante ma adagio. Alexei Ogrintchouk’s oboe provides a melancholic Adagio non troppo and a fluent impression of Mozart’s felicitous inventiveness in the gleeful Rondo. All four soloists are principals of the Concertgebouw Orchestra. The chamber incarnation sounds playful yet at ease. Phrases are shaded off and chords often shortened, but there is no self-consciousness or evident struggle in the pervading cheerful spirit.