Of all the great pioneers of the early music revival, few can match Sir Roger Norrington for the originality, the experience and the pure, unbuttoned joie-de-vivre that he brings to everything he conducts. Certainly, it’s hard to think of a wittier or more congenial interpreter for two of Haydn’s “Paris” symphonies: controlled explosions of fantasy, colour and symphonic argument, performed here with historically informed flair by the (modern instrument) virtuosi of the Salzburg Camerata. No.85 – nicknamed “La Reine” – is the most stately of the “Paris” symphonies. No. 87 is the most headlong. But both receive performances of quite irresistible playfulness and panache.

Contemporaries nicknamed Haydn’s Symphony No. 83 “La Poule” because a particularly quirky melody seemed to suggest the pecking of a hen. But don’t be deceived: even at its most playful, Haydn’s imagination burned with unquenchable fire. In this concert given at the Salzburg Mozarteum in 2000, both “La Poule” and its companion piece – the noble Symphony No. 84 – receive performances of irrepressible animation, commitment and wit. Sir Roger Norrington conducts Camerata Salzburg: a pioneer of historically informed performance working with modern-instrument players steeped in central European style. The result is as energising – and as delightful – as you could possibly wish.