Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 27

“essential listening. Beginning modestly, melodies sweet and relaxed, the first movement then erupts into volcanic fury. The Allegro molto has biting precision, with crisp strings also relishing the passages of silky lyricism...The gypsy-inspired dances from Aleko provide a voluptuous companion piece.” The Observer, 14th October 2012

“Petrenko captures the full romantic flavour of this glorious symphony” Financial Times, 13th October 2012

“The RLPO can rarely have played with such rhythmic elan and tonal glamour than they do in this repertoire for their young Russian maestro, a Rachmaninovian to rank with the finest on disc...The scherzo and finale are played with exhilarating panache. Outstanding.” Sunday Times, 4th November 2012

“What a clever idea it was to launch this CD with the super-subtle Liverpool woodwind in the spotlight, lilting in the 'Women's Dance' [from Aleko]...there's a dash of bitters [in the Symphony] to leaven the sweetness and reveal what a lavish feast of counterpoint this epic work has to offer.” BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2012 *****

“much to enjoy – the sonorous tuba entry a few minutes into the first movement’s Largo introduction, and the hair-raising climax in the Allegro moderato...Petrenko’s dynamic last movement is a success, though I would have welcomed a bit more indulgence in the closing minutes.” The Arts Desk, 24th November 2012

“Petrenko has instilled a sound that makes [the RLPO] a persuasive voice for the Russian Romantics. It is good to hear him devote so much interpretative attention to the Aleko extracts...But the chief attraction is the compelling interpretation of the Second Symphony...a performance that has a true feel for the organic manner in which the symphony is conceived.” Gramophone Magazine, December 2012

“Petrenko, generally speaking, appears to have the measure of this great work, but time and again he betrays his lack of control over the vast structure with a seeming inability to let the music move forward...[The Dances from Aleko are] far less demanding than the challenges of the Symphony, and Petrenko and the RLPO respond with delight to this rarely heard but eminently fresh and attractive music.” International Record Review, December 2012

“I'm not sure when I last enjoyed a reading of the Rachmaninov Second Symphony so much...they play here as if possessed; the brass are on especially magnificent form...by heaven, Antonio Pappano invests the piece with a passionate sense of belief...Principal clarinetist Alessandro Carbonare is exemplary on the long and haunting solo in the slow movement.” BBC Music Magazine, April 2011 ****

“Pappano and his Rome-based orchestra cultivate a feeling of deliberate understatement throughout this live performance which gives Rachmaninov's Second Symphony a light, almost ethereal feeling...Although lacking in full-on power, this performance is no less intense with elegant, sophisticated playing from the orchestra, and there's still plenty of drama when required.” Classic FM Magazine, May 2011 ****

“Pappano is revelatory. It is rare indeed to hear the Second Symphony executed with such clarity and with such a faithful, balanced spectrum of instrumental colour but the performance goes much further than that. Pappano has passion, too, and he knows when to unleash it and when to keep it quietly in reserve.” Gramophone Magazine, May 2011

“Pappano has a wonderfully acute ear for orchestral detail. He draws playing of remarkable alertness, polish and warmth from his Italian orchestra...when I say that his new recording is very nearly a match for Previn's classic account, I can pay it no higher compliment. Pappano is also a little more rhythmically sharp...The Enchanted Lake, played with great detail, drawing out all the delicate colours of [the] exquisitely orchestrated miniature tone-poem.” International Record Review, April 2011

“I like the sound of Pappano’s Rome orchestra; there’s a satisfying richness to the lower string sonority which gives the glowering introduction a brooding intensity. The tiny touches of rubato, of ebb and flow, are unobtrusively applied; the first movement’s lyrical second theme emerges haltingly, hesitantly...This is a really good performance.” Graham Rickson, The Arts Desk, 28th May 2011

“This is a superb performance, faithful to the score, intelligently balanced, organically conceived and infused with passion.” The Telegraph, 11th March 2011 *****

“Pappano, master conductor of opera, revels in the long lyrical lines of Rachmaninov’s second symphony, in which the tender orchestral songs never end, even when the “Dies Irae” plainchant breaks in...he gets velvet delicacy from Rome’s Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. They also excel in the pianissimo textures of Liadov’s The Enchanted Lake.” The Times, 19th March 2011 ****

“Gergiev has the sensibility to put on the pressure and to foster flexibility as the natural contours of the music demand...[He] has a feel for the romantic urgency of the music as well as its lyrical impulse and the LSO responds as if its life depends on it.” Gramophone Magazine, August 2010

“Andsnes's Third Concerto is the only disappointment among the classics presented here, though EMI might have gone for Previn's account of the Second Symphony rather than Jansons's.” BBC Music Magazine, July 2009 ***

“a searingly powerful reading of The Isle of the Dead, which I count the finest performance of all in Ashkenazy's Rachmaninov series” Gramophone Magazine

“What makes this a performance to enjoy from start to finish are the dynamic range and natural presence of the Telarc recording, from the silky first entry of lower strings to the clear, full textures of heady climaxes.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2007 ****

“Ashkenazy has made few more distinguished discs as conductor than his Rachmaninov symphony recordings of the early 1980s. The downside of the repackaging in this 2CD format is that you have to put up with a change of disc half-way through the Second Symphony and lose the shorter orchestral works included in the Previn set. Previn is the most natural but not always the most electrifying of Rachmaninov interpreters and many will find Ashkenazy preferable, particularly in No 1. Although some of Ashkenazy's speeds seem unnaturally pressed – he fairly tips us into the first movement reprise having declined to cap the climax with unvalidated bells – the excitement is infectious. Previn's LSO isn't at its best in the Larghetto, but in the corresponding movement of the Second Symphony the boot is on the other foot. Not that Ashkenazy isn't convincing too – so long as you can forget the Previn. Ashkenazy's volatile approach is at its most extreme in the Third, the mood much less autumnal than it usually is, with the fruity Concertgebouw brass unconstrained.
Such an unashamedly episodic rendering of the score has its drawbacks, but the virtuosic energy and Romantic gush are hard to resist. The recordings sound very well indeed.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010