Two sestercentennial composers are celebrated here: one with an early chamber work that barely wants for recordings, the other with a large-scale nonet from a quarter of a century later, receiving its first outing on disc, prepared from a manuscript recently discovered in the Bibliothèque National de France.

Reicha’s Grande Symphonie de salon in D is in four movements lasting in all around 35 minutes. Despite the addition to the Beethovenian septet forces of oboe and a further violin, it doesn’t in fact sound a bigger work than the Beethoven, perhaps because the German composer leads for the most part with the clarinet, with the support of bassoon and horn, while the Bohemian (perhaps counterintuitively, given his expertise in wind-writing) gives much of the thematic heavy lifting to the first violin, especially in the long sonata-form opening Allegro. In fact, in its melodic contour and leisurely unfolding, this movement brings Schubert more readily to mind – although Reicha can surely have heard little if any of the Austrian’s music.

The Adagio goes for unease in place of restraint, despite a near note-for-note quotation of a theme from the corresponding movement of Haydn’s Symphony No 99. The Minuetto (a scherzo in all but name) offers a testing solo to the (valveless) horn, while the finale comes closest to Beethoven in its jittery motivicism. The Beethoven itself is nigh-on indestructible and played, like the Reicha, with a great deal of panache by this group, drawn from the period-instrument ranks of Julien Chauvin’s Le Concert de la Loge. The Reicha is a worthwhile and welcome addition to the repertoire, and those who have followed these players’ Haydn ‘Paris’ Symphonies (1/17, 1/20) will be well acquainted with their high standards of performance. The booklet recounts the rediscovery and reconstruction of the Reicha, along with two slightly later works for not nine but 10 players, the prospect of which will surely whet the appetite of those seeking refuge this year from Beethoven overkill.