Allegro aperto (literally “open allegro”) is Mozart’s odd direction for the first movement of the Oboe Concerto. One dictionary interprets that to mean “an allegro with broad, clear phrasing”, which is what we get from Katharina Arfken. The tempo she chooses gives her space to phrase her part as written; and the result is fine rhythmic pointing within a largeness that pays particular dividends in the finale, allegretto as it ought to be, and precisely articulated.

Gottfried von der Goltz, a very talented conductor, clear-sightedly balances his sharp-witted period instrument forces, lights up inner textures with horns in alt and keeps the bass-line in the picture. Sound that isn’t always clean and airy (probably due to an unnecessarily high transfer level) obscures some of these virtues but it doesn’t obscure the sympathetic support von der Goltz extends to all the soloists. Donna Agrell’s pawky bassoon stands out proud from his backdrop of stately sophistication in the first movement of this concerto; and if he is a tad staid in the finale, he wholeheartedly engages with her very affecting approach to the slow movement.

Mostly, von der Goltz adapts to individual interpretations without sacrificing his own strengths; and they scintillate in his partnership with Teunis Van der Zwart whose brazen tones, piquant stopped notes and swaggering gait in the horn concertos are irresistible. As a bonus there is also an alternative version of the unfinished finale to K412 by Torsten Johann, quite different from the standard completion by Süssmayr.