English Baroque Soloists/ John Eliot Gardiner SDG 711****

Mozart's Symphony No 39 in E flat is something of a Cinderella among the composer's final three, great symphonies. Judging by the last five years' listings in The Ticket, No 40 outperforms it by a ratio of 10-1 and No 41 by 5-1. But it's the star of the show on this new CD, where John Eliot Gardiner plays it with a kind of impeccable firmness. Every note, every line, every colour and instrumental doubling is made to matter, capturing and communicating the music with both complexity and clarity. Purists, however, need to be warned that there are some twiddly embellishments added to the repeats in the trio of the minuet. The performance of No 41, the Jupiter, has similar virtues, but the striving for massiveness in the outer movements is not always entirely persuasive. See url.ie/4oxv