The works, both in C major, make great use of the Classical style, progressing with clean harmonies, even structural proportions and economical, transparent scoring, the woodwind especially prominent (one recalls Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte, though here an oddity is the lack of a clarinet). Weber's operatic tendencies are also present, the string and wind melodies sometimes tending towards a bel canto melodic line, the finales (as the humorous, erudite CD booklet notes) orchestrally suggesting opera buffa ensembles.

The Queensland Philharmonic Orchestra are majestic in both works. In the First Symphony, the Allegro con fuoco's opening call to attention is fiery, the second subject's arrival arresting, the dramatic contrast between subjects, between forte and piano, between strings and woodwind, strongly conveyed. The violins' intonation can be marginally harmed by the players' athletic bowing style, but the timbre produced is both spiky and lyrical, perfect for this music. The woodwind are homogenous - listen to the movement's scalic passages, where the bassoons, flute and oboes coalesce into one - yet are also individually characterised, the virtuosic, snappy bassoon playing particularly of note.

Weber's Andante is a masterly concoction, and here conductor John Georgiadis grabs the attention from the especially suspenseful opening bars, carefully balancing assuaging lyricism and ghostly mystery. Most notable in the Scherzo and the Presto is the cleanliness of articulation from every orchestral section and the easy ebullience radiating from the music: in the finale, from the kissed flute lines, rampant horns and slyly dagger-wielding cellos and double basses.

The Second Symphony is no less good, with the Allegro's structure handled particularly well (the movement takes up half of the symphony's running time) and the Adagio's viola and oboe solos admirably intonated and phrased. The easy lyricism of the Trio excellently contrasts the mournful C minor outer sections of the Minuet; the subtle drum playing adds much drama to the Scherzo presto.

Completing the disc is a selection of Weber's incidental music, generally from around the same period. The three pieces from Turandot, written in 1809 and based on an inflected pentatonic melody, feature heavy motivic repetition and percussion rhythms, yet the performance here succeeds for the lyricism present in every bar, even in the sorrowfully plodding Funeral March. The two dances from Silvana continue the trend, but more fascinating is the Entr'acte from Die Drei Pintos: Weber's comic opera was never completed and, 67 years later, Mahler reworked the existing material. Here, the flecks of triangle, twinkling string pizzicati and honeyed ensemble textures are unmistakeably Mahlerian, but what surprises is how successfully this refined orchestration joins hands with Weber's Classical style. The orchestra's playing is wondrously transparent and, as elsewhere on the disc, completely engrossing.

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