In a time when many Classical CDs are expected to represent the latest in period scholarship and historically informed performance practices, it's nice every once in a while to encounter a recording of a masterpiece without any novelty, just great playing. Dennis Russell Davies and the Basel Symphony Orchestra deliver Franz Schubert's "Great" C major Symphony with the simple virtues of clear interpretation and alert, energetic playing, and they prove that not much more is needed to make this piece a success. The ensemble is ...
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In a time when many Classical CDs are expected to represent the latest in period scholarship and historically informed performance practices, it's nice every once in a while to encounter a recording of a masterpiece without any novelty, just great playing. Dennis Russell Davies and the Basel Symphony Orchestra deliver Franz Schubert's "Great" C major Symphony with the simple virtues of clear interpretation and alert, energetic playing, and they prove that not much more is needed to make this piece a success. The ensemble is a full-sized modern symphony orchestra with a conventional seating arrangement, and the instrumentation and the techniques they use are also modern. Furthermore, their tempos are brisk but not inordinately fast, repeats are taken, and the 62:11 timing of the symphony shows that the pacing hasn't been streamlined. So nothing about this performance smacks of period style, yet it is a perfectly refreshing and satisfying live performance that doesn't need any gimmicks to get attention...
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