For many, perhaps most, listeners,
Mozart's symphonies are the peak of his orchestral works. This set by
Neville Marriner leading the
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields includes recordings that were made in the '70s, but the sound is crisp and deep. The performances themselves are strongest in the first 30 or so symphonies.
Marriner and the
Academy are as light, sprightly, and sparkling as one could ask, and the ineffable glimmer of the music has rarely been so well caught.