As with Martin Haselböck’s fascinating period-instrument series of Liszt tone-poems for NCA, his set of the six Hungarian Rhapsodies for CPO (using arrangements prepared by Franz Doppler and Liszt himself) employs a somewhat smaller orchestra than we’re accustomed to in this music, the sort that Liszt himself would have known in Weimar. The musical upshot of this option is added transparency, with comparatively soft textures and a correspondingly reduced level of visceral impact. The litmus test for this music is surely the indelible Second Rhapsody, which is given a genial, finely detailed reading with the odd cadenza-like passage (ie at 2'22"), and interesting solo interjections (the improvisatory violin solo at 3'46"). Remembering that the material this music is based upon was popular in the cafés of the day, that’s precisely how the music sounds here, fresh and ‘jolly’ rather than brilliant and intense. The friss fast second section careers along at a relatively steady pace, enjoying a sunny ‘end-of-pier’ exuberance. You hear some very clear pizzicatos in No 3 (piano No 6), as well as a discreetly balanced cimbalom; the brass at the start of No 4 sound suitably ominous (excellent crescendos); the funereal Fifth Rhapsody seems more doleful than ever without the warming embrace of vibrato from the strings – that is, until the solo cello enters at 2'17" with at least a semblance of an expressive ‘tremor’.

The obvious comparative reference is Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra (Philips), a very different kind of ‘authentic’ performance, equally stylish, spiced to the gills in every bar, exciting and tonally seductive. Modern instruments are used; and while I couldn’t in all honesty say that Fischer’s thicker canvas compromises on clarity, Martin Haselböck’s approach brings with it varieties of tonal colouring that anyone interested in this perennially delightful music will appreciate hearing. Excellent sound, by the way.