The release of this hugely exciting disc marked the tenth anniversary of Evgeny Svetlanov’s death. He was in poor health when he conducted this performance of The Bells but this electrifying performance sounds like the work of a fully fit man in his forties. It was to be his last concert; a matter of days later he died so it’s good that his final performance shows him at his considerable best. The live account of Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky, given in 1988 is also pretty special. This is a phenomenal issue! © 2012 MusicWeb International

Here…we have one absolutely fabulous performance (The Bells) and one very good one (Alexander Nevsky), and I would even give them preference over Svetlanov’s studio recordings of these same works.

With gorgeous live sound to boot, this version of The Bells really rings my chimes, so to speak. This is a work that stands or falls with the quality of the chorus. When I first auditioned this disc, I was unaware that I was not hearing a native Russian group; that’s how good the BBC Symphony Chorus is here. Tenor Daniil Shtoda…displays brilliance of both sound and temperament, and the first movement, depicting the silver sleigh bells of youth, has great élan. Sergei Leiferkus is appropriately mournful in the funereal fourth movement; as with Shtoda, familiarity with the language and the style pays off.

…there is a lot to like here. I’d get this if I were you. © 2012 Fanfare Read complete review

Svetlanov’s interpretations gained depth as he grew older, and the results are often spectacular, as they are here in the Rachmaninoff…I have to say that few are as immediately gratifying and gripping as this one…Almost every other recording has at least a few moments that drag a little—not so here. Svetlanov keeps the line taut through the entire performance; and even the quiet passages, though certainly never hurried, are clearly part of the overall arc of the work.

If there is urgency and febrile energy in I and III, there’s a remarkable mixture of repose and longing in II and IV. Of course, that’s in Rachmaninoff’s score, but here the otherworldly concentration also comes from the conductor. Svetlanov was a dying man; this performance was the last one he conducted. He passed away at his home in Moscow two weeks later. But there is no ebbing of life-force in this performance. © 2012 American Record Guide Read complete review on American Record Guide online