Here’s a performance of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto that conveys a palpable sense of occasion – and with good reason, as it was recorded in a concert celebrating the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra’s 20th birthday. Although Anne-Sophie Mutter and Yo Yo Ma’s partnership is stronger on dramatic juxtaposition than tonal blend, both really dig into their parts, sometimes even throw caution to the wind. Listen starting at 6'32" in the first movement, for example, where both trade refinement for ferocity. Barenboim (conducting from the piano) facilitates real flexibility in regards to tempo, resulting in a convincing sense of improvisatory abandon, and the orchestra match their fervour. The central Largo is keenly expressive; and while the final Rondo alla polacca feels a bit heavy – Barenboim has the orchestra stomping rather than dancing through the rhythms – it still abounds with character. Try, say, the passage at 4'54", where the three soloists play with tremendous swagger, although some may feel it’s a bit over the top, particularly when heard alongside Fricsay’s classic account, where Anda, Schneiderhan and Fournier strut with such nobility.

I found the Seventh Symphony, recorded in Buenos Aires a few months earlier, considerably less satisfying. Interpretatively, it’s quite similar to the muscle-bound recording in Barenboim’s Staatskapelle Berlin cycle (Warner, 4/00). Yet again, there’s lyrical intensity and unusual weight in the first movement’s Vivace as well as the strongly measured Allegretto, but this time the third movement feels unexpectedly cautious and the finale lacks articulacy – note the smudged opening bars, for instance.

DG has placed the microphones very close to the soloists in the concerto – one can almost hear the spray of rosin – at the cost of orchestral detail. In the symphony, there’s a more realistic concert-hall perspective.