So it's good to find that not only have the concerts been recorded for release on the orchestra's pioneering in-house CD label, LSO Live, but the first issue captures all of the atmosphere of the live events, plus the incisive playing of the orchestra and keen insights of the conductor.

The album starts with Beethoven's Seventh Symphony, the knock-out performance on the disc. Haitink's approach to Beethoven has been completely overhauled since his previous cycle on disc, and is now remarkably vibrant and youthful. The period performance practice movement has had its effect, with the division of the violins and a controlled vibrato in the strings, yet the distinctively substantial sound of the orchestra is never lost.

Textural contrasts in the first movement are strongly marked, with the loud tutti chords outlining the simple legato themes in the winds. As the latter develops, the strings develop scalic ideas in counterpoint, all played with a precision that invokes Wagner's description of the work as 'the apotheosis of the dance'. Then the second subject arrives, and the music explodes into life, the violinists ripping the accented ornaments from their instruments with energy. There is both elegance and vivacity about this performance, which also finds the timpani in jaunty mode.

Architectural awareness makes the second movement special in Haitink's hands; he has a firm vision of where the music is going to, and how its rhythmic structure propels it forward. The balance of the different orchestral groups is ideal, allowing the subtle flute melody and high string accompaniment at the heart of the movement to emerge and thereby focus the ear on minute detail. The ensuing opening out of the entire string section in the return of the distinctive main theme comes as an ideal contrast to this intricate texture. All praise to James Mallinson and his team for such effective engineering.

The bubbling and bouncing of the Presto third movement are delightful. The tempo is brisk, daring the risk-taking LSO to play off the edges of their seats. And the final movement is indeed 'con brio' as the direction suggests, with the dotted rhythms given an almost baroque attack.

The second item on the album is scarcely less pleasing. The Triple Concerto is one of Beethoven's most imaginative works, and can provide the perfect showcase for the right soloists. Even more than in the concert, Gordan Nikolitch (violin), Tim Hugh (cello) and Lars Vogt (piano) find a compatibility of direction in their group passages that makes the music flow seamlessly from one soloist to another.

In the first movement, the intimacy of the recording means that the chamber feel of the trio's music sounds more comfortable than in the cavernous Barbican Hall. Vogt's careful shading of each note is matched by Nikolitch's virtuosity and Hugh's yearning tone. The three converse well when playing in canon, and in terms of precision are hard to fault.

Perhaps one misses the magic of a Rostropovich in the second movement, but the finale is lively and exuberant. Nikolitch dominates here, passion and pyrotechnics finding their ideal advocate. Vogt is also more communicative than I remember from the concert, indeed the whole performance is sharper and more focused.

In all, one of the best orchestral releases of the year so far, and at £5.99 a throw, an essential part of any Beethovenian's collection.

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