Beethoven: Zur Namensfeier overture, Op. 115 (Feastday / Name Day)

“Zinman's Beethoven symphonies won awards, and this set of the overtures has similar features - lithe, energetic conducting, lean, incisively direct interpretations. Leonore No. 3 is particularly bracing.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2005 ****

“Thomas Dausgaard's Beethoven Eighth crackles with life and makes an enthusiastic play for the score's zanier elements, such as the syncopated accents near the beginning of the first movement's development section… Warmly drawn horns sit happily at the centre of the Menuetto and the finale has a finely tensed feel to it, keenly played with cut-glass tremolandos.” Gramophone Magazine, June 2007

“These readings can stand with the best of them, and the varied assortment of fillers makes this disc well worth investigation.” American Record Guide

“Chailly's first recorded Beethoven cycle shows him to be a Classicist through and through...There is also a lovely Italianate cantabile which period strings would find it impossible (and possibly undesirable) to match...The recordings, I should add, are superb...There is space around the sound, as there needs to be in Beethoven, complemented by an immediacy and clarity of detail that derives in large measure from the playing itself.” Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2011

“His Beethoven represents a confrontation of tradition...with innovative ideas...From the outset, it is clear that Chailly’s Beethoven will be an exhilarating adventure: closely observing the once-controversial metronome markings, he conducts the fast movements of the C and D major symphonies with Haydnesque wit and brio...The breathtaking finale of No 8 is the most exciting I have heard on disc.” Sunday Times, 23rd October 2011

“This is above all, an explosively swift cycle. Chailly is utterly faithful to Beethoven's metronome markings...but the tautness of the playing, the definition of its detail – especially from the woodwind – and the phenomenal range of dynamics the Gewandhaus Orchestra has at its command mean that weight and drama are always available to Chailly...The result is a Beethoven cycle that's up there with the best modern-orchestra versions of recent times” The Guardian, 3rd November 2011 *****

“Readings focused entirely on the composer, not on debating how things ‘should’ sound...The playing is responsive and immaculate throughout, forming the backbone of Chailly’s brilliantly authentic crib-sheet of a symphony cycle.” Daniel Ross, bbc.co.uk, 26th October 2011

“they play as if possessed: Chailly has opted to stick faithfully to the composer's original tempos. The effect is revelatory: even old warhorses such as the 5th Symphony are transformed into galloping racehorses, in thoroughbred performances befitting the pedigree of the material, restoring a dash and brio to works whose revolutionary aspects can once again be clearly glimpsed.” The Independent, 11th November 2011 *****

“Chailly injects a colossal and thrilling urgency into the music...This is a remarkable feat, which owes much to the fabulous unanimity of the Leipzig players. Many orchestras would stumble over the finale of the Second Symphony, if taken at Chailly’s breakneck speed, but this one sails through unscathed.” The Telegraph, 18th November 2011 *****

“There is a monumentality and gravitas in these new Decca recordings, released to tie in with Chailly’s Barbican residency...You really do get the best of both worlds here – clear textures and sharp articulation to rival those of Krivine’s recent period cycle, paired with orchestral textures rich and characterful.” The Arts Desk, 26th November 2011

“Chailly is direct, fiery, full of vitality and detail...[he] simply convinces me...To hear the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra on stupendous form in these masterpieces is a privilege, and one that's hard to resist given the blazing power and conviction of Chailly's vision.” International Record Review, May 2012