Symphonies 2 & 8 : live at Cadogan Hall

"Now Osmo Vänskä weighs in, completing his already outstanding Beethoven cycle with what may be the best version of them all. It has all of Järvi's vitality, rhythmic edge, and transparency of texture, and it supplies in abundance the one element missing from Fischer's version: sharply etched bass lines".

"Den seneste cd med 2. og 8. Symfoni er virkelig en stærk præstation ... Gardiners orkester er, som navnet antyder, skabt netop med henblik på musikken fra Beethovens tid på overgangen mellem 1700-og 1800-tallet, og med ét lyder 2. Symfoni, som var det Skæbnesymfonien, der kom ud af højttalerne ... Man sidder tilbage med hjertet i halsen og et nyt syn på to af Beethovens traditionelt set mest oversete symfonier".

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"Der er stadig sprængkraft og en overdådig fornemmelse for musik skrevet på følelsernes store skala hos Gardiner og hans stilsikre periodeorkester. Vel at mærke uden at de to undervurderede symfonier overlæsses det mindste. Tværtimod vinder stramheden i Gardiners korte fraseringer og kvikke temposkift. Balancen mellem det direkte og det gådefulde er eminent".

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"Given the fundamental choice that Haitink has made, which is that it is important to continue the traditions of Beethoven performances which ruled until about 25 years ago, he has almost reached his ideal. The playing of the LSO is nowadays quite magnificent, and they are fully justified in releasing their public performances".

"Vurdering: Empfehlung des Monats" - "Gardiner aber zeigt, dass das 'Rundum-Historisieren' noch immer der ehrlichste Weg ist, und ein ästhetisch sehr überzeugender dazu. Zumindst mit einem so brillanten Ensemble wie dem Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique".

"Many of [Beethoven's] markings seem improbably fast, and they have proved to be controversial, to say the least; but John Eliot Gardiner takes them seriously and there are some hair-raisingly quick tempos here ... It's possible to feel that a less sweeping performance would have allowed for more clarity of detail and greater weight, but there's no doubting the visceral excitement of the playing".

"Vurdering: BBC music choice" - "These are performances that can hold their own with the best, and the quality of the recording, as it has been throughout the series, is immaculate. Altogether, a superb conclusion to a worthwhile cycle".