Let me say first that these recordings which were made in 1977 and 1981 have been transferred to CD with loving skill by the DG engineers. Background noise is almost vanquished, the orchestral balance is natural and the analogue sound very appealing indeed. It is warm yet detail emerges effortlessly, although it need hardly be said these are not congested scores. Bohm's approach is endearingly though not ostentatiously warm. Tempos are often slow, perhaps too slow, in the first movement of Symphony No. 29, and there is a similar lack of drive in the opening movement of No. 40. Yet there is beautiful orchestral playing all the time, and no point of detail is missed. Bohm makes the relaxed feeling part of his Mozartian ethos. It wouldn't work with original instruments but with an elegantly groomed modern orchestra he is very persuasive.
The finest performance is the Jupiter, wonderfully proportioned and essentially humane, though it is a pity that even on CD it was not possible to include the repeats in the outer movements.'