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Amazon.co.uk Review Sir John Eliot Gardiner's period-instrument orchestra is well named, for in some of the most recorded repertoire of all time he revolutionises our conception of how these titanic works should sound. Of course it has to be said that Gardiner is not the first to bring period instrument practice to Beethoven: Roy Goodma
Amazon.co.uk Review Sir John Eliot Gardiner's period-instrument orchestra is well named, for in some of the most recorded repertoire of all time he revolutionises our conception of how these titanic works should sound. Of course it has to be said that Gardiner is not the first to bring period instrument practice to Beethoven: Roy Goodman with the Hanover Band and Roger Norrington with the London Classical Players, to name but two, had already trodden similar ground. Yet Gardiner's exhilarating accounts emerge as the finest. To begin with, he has the immaculate ORER at his disposal, who consistently produce flawless and enticing playing in all departments. Then, he elects fastidiously to follow Beethoven's invariably speedy metronome markings and exposition repeats to the letter. The results are never less than intriguing and, more often than not, compelling, especially as Gardiner also seems to have each movement of each symphony sharply mapped out in terms of timbre, dynamic and direction in relation to the whole. In their own ways all nine Symphonies can be heartily recommended, with a blazing and bold Eroica, an exquisitely shaded Pastoral, a majestic Seventh and an expansive yet dramatic Choral especially fine. But, in Gardiner's hands, even a work like the classical Second emerges as fresh and innovative. This lavish set, immaculately recorded, can unquestionably hold its own with the best--period instrument or otherwise. --Duncan Hadfield
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