Among Sir Roger Norrington’s contributions to the Haydn anniversary year were these recordings of the 12 “London” Symphonies, made with his Stuttgart radio orchestra at concerts that took place over a week last September. He has recorded Nos 99-104 before, on period instruments with the London Classical Players (EMI), but more direct comparisons are with Nikolaus Harnoncourt and the Concertgebouw, like Norrington taking a period approach on modern instruments, and Sir Colin Davis with the same orchestra. Interpretatively Sir Roger sits roughly in between the two.

Norrington is well known for his almost dogmatic abhorrence of vibrato, and this pays dividends at moments such as the slow introduction to Symphony No 102, although elsewhere it can give rise to occasional spots of sour intonation. Still, ensemble work is generally fine and there are some notably lithe woodwind solos throughout. In fact, the strength of this set lies in its powerful orchestral playing, allied with an avoidance, by and large, of lapsing into mannerism – despite touches of “local colour” such as the sul ponticello passage in the slow movement of Symphony No 97. Slow movements don’t linger (that of the Clock Symphony is ear-prickingly swift, that of the Military Symphony perhaps a little breathless) and minuets don’t lurch to the extremes of tempo favoured by certain period practitioners. The only miscalculation is perhaps the Allegro of Symphony No 102, which seems something of an uphill trudge when compared with the fleet-footed Davis. Virtually everywhere else, though, Norrington is alert to Haydn’s effortless wit, his airborne counterpoint and his unerring architecture. Davis remains my number-one choice (and I suspect will continue to do so for some time) but the new recordings are thoroughly enjoyable and barely suffer in comparison with the rivals listed.