This reissue combines finely played late-1970s accounts of three of the six symphonies Haydn wrote for Paris. Neville Marriner's trilogy gets off to a stunning start with Symphony No. 82's faultless, virtuosic ensemble playing, particularly from the violins in their difficult passagework throughout the opening Vivace assai, and later in the finale. The Andante of No. 83 offers tenderly enunciated wind solos, even if the opening Allegro seems too regimented and stiff beside Bernstein's (or Dorati's) livelier, noticeably less refined but engagingly bucolic readings.

Marriner's CD ends with a finely calculated and deftly realized performance of Symphony No. 85, where every orchestral detail is perfectly in place. But there are moments, especially in the Romance, where the sharply differentiated individuality of the wind playing under Dorati affords more pleasurable listening. Eloquence's transfer of the already superb Philips LP master sounds magnificent, but since Marriner's violins are not seated antiphonally, Haydn's ingenious counterpoint doesn't register forcibly enough.

--Michael Jameson