The long run-up to the 300th anniversary of Haydn’s birth in 2032 gathers pace with Les Heures du Jour (The Hours of the Day), a sparkling tenth instalment in a projected complete survey of his 107 symphonies.

Il Giardino Armonico

Articulately voiced by Il Giardino Armonico and Giovanni Antonini, the grand overseer of a project intégrale that also involves the Basel Chamber Orchestra, the focus here is on a trio of early works that elegantly pivot through the diurnal span from ‘Morning’ (Symphony No 6) to ‘Noon’ (No 7) and ‘Evening’ (No 8) with sprightly major key buoyancy and panache before extending its nightly revels with Mozart’s Serenade in D, Serenata Notturna (K239).

Appointed in 1761 as Kapellmeister to the venerable Esterházy court, Haydn responded to his new patron’s request for a sequence of symphonies describing the passage of the day by taking gleeful advantage of the court’s well-resourced orchestra to produce grandstanding solo passages for several of its leading players. The hybrid symphony-concertos that resulted deport themselves with balletic poise and more than a touch of theatrical boldness. Immediate...