Schumann: Symphonies Nos 1 & 3 [download]

Recording of the Week
'I would suggest that this new performance is easily worth a double-dip: not only do you get the Manfred Overture but these new accounts of the symphonies bring a bloom and vitality that is quite irresistible, and a pleasure to hear.'
Presto Classical

Album of the week
‘Together they produce an album brimming with rich recordings of Schumann’s optimistic first symphony, a celebration of spring, and his third symphony, which was inspired by the Rhineland after the composer visited with his wife Clara.’
Classic FM

'John Eliot Gardiner offers us a Schumann which is neither heavy, bushy, confused, abstract, or abstruse, but on the contrary, it is lively, it shines like the reflections of the Rhine, like the German forests in spring or in autumn'
France Musique

‘With these bracing, tautly argued and exhilarating accounts of the Spring and Rhenish symphonies, Gardiner confounds the “dreary cliché that [Schumann] couldn’t orchestrate”. He brings the values of his period- instrument performances to both works and to the grandiose Manfred Overture.... The LSO players respond with verve and elan to his impulsive baton.’
The Times

★★★★
‘They are lively and vigorous shots that please because of their richness of detail, their inner flexibility and their transparency.’
Pizzicato