On this release of three of
Mozart's Salzburg symphonies,
Le Cercle de l'Harmonie led by
Jérémie Rhorer shows itself to be technically adept if not yet interpretively distinctive. The strings' unanimity of bowing and phrasing, the winds' color and blend, the brass' and trumpets' blast and balance, and the tightness of the ensemble as a whole are as refined as all but the most venerable modern instrument chamber orchestras. Likewise, conductor
Rhorer proves his mettle by leading them through well organized and ably executed performances that attend to details of articulation as well as larger issues of form and structure. If these performances are missing anything, it is the same thing so many orchestral performances lack: the kind of characterful and distinctive music-making that distinguished recordings of these same works by such diverse masters as
Otto Klemperer and
Neville Marriner. While they had something to say about
Mozart's symphonies,
Rhorer and
Le Cercle de l'Harmonie have yet to find their own voice. Still, with their obvious skill and dedication, they may yet find their way, and this disc could be but the prelude to a rich career. Virgin Classic's digital sound is wonderfully clean and warmly evocative, but a tad recessed.