“... the SACD sound accorded these performances sets new standards in the recording of Ives’s orchestral music....”   ****

Artistic Judgement: Exceptional

Technical Assesment: Excellent/Exceptional

Dynamics: 5    Timbre: 4     Soundstage: 5      Detail: 4

“... it [4^th Symphony] has never sounded better on record and Bavouzet is the very definition of luxury casting, here on top form. Generously coupled and as fine in stereo as in surround, this is a most enticing disc.”  *****

Performance ****        Recording ****

“... everyone should appreciate Davis’s subtle dynamic shadings, heartfelt phrasings, and the finale’s [Sym 4]  magical tapestry of universal harmony ...”

“ ... anyone listening to this terrific disc – the third and final instalment of Andrew Davis’s Ives series with the fired-up Melbourne Symphony Orchestra – may feel that they need not two ears but six. A typical Ives score, though organised with mathematical ingenuity ...” ****

“...He [Davis] focuses the music’s muscularity and its astonishing changes of perspective and mood with total assurance. Capturing all the teeming ideas is as much of a challenge for sound engineers, too, but this recording, with the solo piano, played by Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, more than usually prominent, teases everything out with marvellous clarity... “ ****