The note accompanying this record claims that the Hanover Band ''uses authentic instruments and period principles of interpretation'' and that ''extensive research is made into the performing material of the time, consulting original manuscripts, autographs and first editions''. Nothing further is said about the instruments used. Are they the same for all the works on the record? There would have been differences between the orchestra for which Weber wrote Abu Hassan and Der Beherrscher der Geister in 1811, and those for the later overtures in the 1820s, let alone between them and the Paris orchestra for which Berlioz scored the Invitation to the dance in 1841. If the group is claiming authenticity, at least the instruments used should be identified. Moreover, there is no evidence that the original manuscripts have been used, at any rate those that I have checked (Freischutz and Oberon). For instance, printed scores of the Oberon Overture follow the first edition (Schlesinger) in slurring the opening horn phrase, but neither in the manuscript nor in the conducting score which Weber used for the Covent Garden premiere are there slurs marked on this repeated phrase. There are other divergences.
The performances have been recorded in the rather over-resonant acoustic of All Saints Church, Tooting. This has not helped the balance which in the Euryanthe Overture favours the brass, especially some over-prominent trombones, at the expense of the wind and strings: in fast passagework both here and in Oberon it is sometimes very hard to hear the strings clearly. When they are on their own, as in the ghost music, they sound well. The ensemble is sometimes poor, for instance with the brass near the start of Euryanthe, and the drum comes in at the great C major chord in Freischutz almost as if it were an upbeat. The extreme slowness of the second subject of Euryanthe is more open to question: Weber certainly expected flexibility in tempo, but pulling back to almost half speed seems rather extreme. The dazzling counterpoint of Der Beherrscher der Geister is not as clearly articulated as it might be. In short, I do not see the justification for the record's claim that ''these are the first 'authentic' performances of Weber's brilliant overtures'''