Weber’s genius is most succinctly and most engagingly represented in his overtures. He was an inspired melodist, a brilliant orchestrator and a consummate designer of single-movement structures which – although their primary function was to create the appropriate atmosphere in the theatre or opera house – are entirely convincing as separate items in the concert hall. Brought up in a theatrical family and heir to many disappointments, Weber was acutely aware of the risks involved in mounting any kind of stage production: a well written overture, presenting the best of the musical material in a self-contained form, was an insurance against total failure.

This recording features six of Weber’s masterful overtures, as well as two arrangements for orchestra (by Hector Berlioz and Felix Weingartner) of his ‘operatic’ Aufforderung zum Tanz (Invitation to the Dance), stirringly performed by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orhcestra under ther direction of Lawrence Foster.