In old age Haydn retained a soft spot for his ‘Times of Day’ trilogy, his first works for the Esterházy court, and it’s no accident that these colourful symphonies, with their concerto grosso echoes, remain by far the most popular of his early works. Much of the melodic invention is the stuff of Baroque and rococo cliché. But these symphonies, Haydn’s answer to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, captivate with their unflagging energy, pictorial effects and the young composer’s gift for the well-placed surprise. Prince Paul Anton Esterházy had made a shrewd appointment, and knew it.

Among some two dozen recordings the standouts for me are those by Trevor Pinnock’s English Concert and the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra. This new Hungarian version, using a 15-piece period band that replicates Haydn’s forces in 1761, is perfectly decent. If the bright, resonant acoustic of the music room in the Eszterháza palace in Fertőd can militate against ideal clarity, the playing is neat and polished. Balance and (usually) tempos are well judged, dynamic contrasts vivid. But that’s never quite enough in music that cries out for recreative flair and a sense of youthful joie de vivre.

‘Sober’ was my initial reaction to many of the movements here, even before I began comparisons. While tempos are often virtually identical, both rival versions are lighter and more supple, skipping blithely over the bar line where the Orfeo make you all too aware of the strong beats. The Minuet of Le soir, which the Freiburgers treat as a light-stepping waltz, is an obvious case in point. The opening Allegro of Le midi tends to trudge amiably where the string soloists on the rival discs bring a touch of caprice to Haydn’s concertino writing. Granted, the ‘Tempesta’ in Le soir is the most genial of 18th-century storms. But in the Orfeo’s jogging, under-tempo performance it sounds simply tepid. Nor do the Orfeo rethink repeats – and there are many – with the imagination of their rivals. The excellent flautist offers the occasional shy invitation to ornamentation which her string colleagues largely ignore. Compare the Orfeo’s relative literalism in slow movements with the witty, sometimes wacky decorations of the Freiburg players, who sense that this music is opera by other means.

Unlike both rival recordings, the Orfeo omit a harpsichord continuo, as Haydn himself may have done (the jury remains out here). Unless you feel strongly about this – I don’t – go to Pinnock or, my own favourite, the Freiburgers for zest, fantasy and a very Haydnish sense of fun.