Harry Christophers and the Handel and Haydn Society of Boston present a neatly turned-out Military Symphony, closer to the urbanity of Colin Davis than the rawer edges of Eugen Jochum or, on original instruments, the speedier Marc Minkowski. It’s a performance that impresses rather than exhilarates – until, that is, the Turkish percussion make their entrance in the slow movement. As well as the prescribed bass drum, cymbal and triangle there’s a Turkish crescent or jingling Johnny, which jingles deliciously both here and in the finale. The instruments and the reasoning behind their selection is intriguingly discussed in the booklet: this being a performance on period instruments, we learn, for example, that the cymbals are slightly antique Zildjians – not actually from the 18th century but wrought using the same secret process discovered by Avedis Zildjian in 1623. It’s a terrific sound that gives most other Military Symphonies a run for their money.

The coupling in concert and on disc is the best-known of Haydn’s Masses, the so-called Nelson, with a conspicuously well-drilled chorus, brimming with confidence and never for a moment caught out by Haydn’s challenging writing. The soloists are largely British, presided over by the imperious soprano of Mary Bevan; the only American, Sumner Thompson, is noticeably a baritone rather than a bass, lacking the last ounce of strength in the lower range. Mezzo Catherine Wyn-Rogers comes adrift from the pulse briefly in the ‘Agnus Dei’. Nevertheless, this is an intensely likeable performance, one that easily rivals the granitic Pinnock or Gardiner and comes close to matching Hickox’s recording, in which the choral, orchestral and soloistic stars align for something just a little extra special.