Michael Greenhalgh - Recording of the year 2019

“Take the opening movement of the Unfinished symphony, with appreciable clarity of texture Gardner pulls no punches. The sforzandos shock, his tension in the development creates a long sustained explosive outpouring. Yet his second theme remains demure but kindly and, after a brutal response, resilient. This is an emphatic but never heavy account.”

“…Throughout the disc the CBSO’s playing is sensationally fine – responsive, virtuosic and tonally beautiful. Particular plaudits should go to the superlative woodwind section, but the ‘Unfinished’ in particular makes you aware of the strengths also of the cellos and the horns. These days, post-refurbishment, Birmingham Town Hall has a good acoustic, at least for ensembles of moderate size; and it is well captured here in a recording of exceptional clarity and wide dynamic range… “

Recommended

“These spirited, state-of-the-art accounts are crowned by the most sensitive and satisfying account of the Unfinished I have ever heard.”

Hi-Fi News Album Choice

“… the CBSO players more than hold their own in these Birmingham Town Hall recordings, while Gardiner’s interpretation of the ‘Unfinished’ is one of the most engaging I have heard…" 

“It is something of a truism these days to observe that Edward Gardner’s focussed and vigorous approach to familiar (and less familiar) music is guaranteed to bring the scores up fresh as paint – very much the case with these lively readings of Schubert symphonies…”

Artistic Guide: Exceptional             Technical (Sound) Guide: Exceptional

“… The orchestra … are on fine form, with the woodwind especially making the most of their contributions, not least the clarinets … a cycle that will undoubtedly be worth following.”

Performance *****      Recording *****

“…Gardner keeps the firm rhythmic definition and a certain elegance of phrasing in the great Unfinished, but the sonorities, not least of the three trombones and the horn edge that surfaces fitfully in the earlier works, partly dictate a greater power, easily embraced in the spacious, truthful recording. The central swathes of both movements are powerful indeed, the pianissimos even more intense, and how far we’ve come from the jaunty wind solos of No. 3 to the pathos of clarinet, oboe and flute in the slow movement’s second theme. On this evidence I can’t wait for Gardner’s Great C major.”