“... Stuart Skelton’s Waldemar is superb and a triumph ... with such firm baritonal warmth, subtle colouring and vivid projection of text that Skelton’s could well be the finest account in terms of storytelling... Gardner’s concept sweeps all before it; a slow burn that gains such intensity that the final chorus is a satisfying blaze of light. The sound quality is glorious – miraculously so considering the constraints of live recording... “  *****

From The Times 100 Best Records of the Year 2016

 “Schoenberg’s post-Wagnerian epic gets another outstanding showing. Stuart Skelton is a thrillingly tormented Waldemar.”

Performance *****            Recording ****

Of the five solo roles, Stuart Skelton as King Waldemar thrillingly encompases Schoenberg’s extravagant demands from the tenderest intimacy to the most heroic rhetoric. Alwyn Mellor is full-toned as his lover Tove ... the densely written male voice choruses of Part Three come over with exceptional clarity, while the Bergen Philharmonic with reinforcements from the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, plays vibrantly throughout. The hero, nonetheless is Edward Gardner, under whose wonderfully flexible beat this hyper-Romantic music positively breathes in long lyrical phrases and paragraphs...”

Album of the Week

“... The playing and singing of Gardner’s Bergen forces are as intoxicating as any I know on disc.”

Editor’s Choice – Vocal Section

“... an enormously impressive achievement ... Gardner’s operatic experience means he’s alive to the lyricism and drama of the piece in equal measure: there’s ardent longing aplenty and a real willingness to explore the sheer gorgeousness of the score, as well as a powerful send of drama where required ...”