Review By WETA,August 2012
For this recording the Sinfonia Finlandia Jyväskylä has chosen two of Pleyel’s 48 known symphonies, as well as a flute concerto with conductor Patrick Gallois doing double duty. The concerto is fairly typical of Pleyel’s musical repurposing; it was published as a clarinet and a cello concerto at the same time. © 2012 WETA Read complete article
Review By Lawrence Hansen,American Record Guide,May 2012
…well crafted and bounces right along—tuneful, too…The performances by the Finnish orchestra…under their French conductor-soloist are first-rate: lively, concentrated, polished, and direct. Gallois doesn’t try to turn Pleyel into Mozart, and that works just fine. The three major key works here are almost unrelentingly cheerful, without a cloud even in the slow movements. It’s the kind of pleasant but undemanding background music some of the automated “classical Muzak” radio stations like to program. © 2012 American Record Guide Read complete review on American Record Guide online
Review By Salustio Alvarado,Ritmo,May 2012
La fama póstuma Ignaz Pleyel (1757–1831) ha estado condicionada por un error fatal, aunque involuntario: el haber nacido en Austria un año después que Mozart. Recordado sólo como fabricante de pianos y titular de una famosa sala de conciertos parisina, su obra está en los últimos años saliendo del olvido gracias a la fonografía, proceso al que está contribuyendo en no poca medida el sello Naxos. En esta su quinta grabación dedicada al maestro de Ruppersthal encontramos dos sinfonías, en Si bemol y Sol mayor respectivamente, que figuran en el catálogo de Rita Benton con los números 125 y 130, junto con el Concierto en Do mayor Benton 106 en su versión para flauta, pues la parte solista de dicho concierto también conoce adaptaciones para clarinete y, una octava más grave, para violonchelo. Y, si mis informaciones son fidedignas, ambas sinfonías son obras inéditas en CD.
Como en el caso de Friedrich Witt (Naxos 8.572089) el binomio Patrick Gallois vuelve a funcionar de forma notablemente satisfactoria, ofreciéndonos unas versiones muy correctas de estas obras, aunque quizá se eche en falta un poquito más de fogosidad y tensión en algunos movimientos rápidos. © 2012 Ritmo
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Review By Byzantion,MusicWeb International,April 2012
Pleyel did not blaze any trails in his music, and he never hesitated to re-score and pick-’n’-mix his works to make money—the Flute Concerto, for example, appeared simultaneously in a version for clarinet and another for cello. Even so, his music was extremely popular in his lifetime above all because it was always well crafted, melodious and original, with an abundance of memorable themes and surprising turns of direction—all of which is exemplified by these substantial Haydn-flavoured Symphonies. Moreover, there is little evidence in the Flute Concerto that “after about 1792 his talent seems to have diminished; his inventiveness waned and he occasionally succumbed to routine procedures”, as Rita Benton rather cavalierly writes in the New Grove.
Though little known and widely unpronounceable outside Finland, the Sinfonia Finlandia Jyväskylä is a very decent ensemble, with a vivid, robust, expressive sound, not to mention a mass of recordings to their credit, including many for Naxos under Gallois…
Sound quality in this recording is pretty good. There is at least one editing join, in the G major Symphony, but it is unobtrusive and in general the production is creditable—for example, unless otherwise specified by the composer, it is always nice to have plenty of silence between movements. © 2012 MusicWeb International Read complete review
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Review By John J. Puccio,Classical Candor,March 2012
The album begins with two of Pleyel’s multitudinous works, the Symphony in B flat major…and the Symphony in G major…They are elegant, charming, bouncy, cheerful, and endlessly entertaining. The music is light and airy, with delightfully lilting melodies.
Using an orchestra of modest proportions…Gallois is able to produce buoyant rhythms and clear, clean textures appropriate to the tunes. The slow movements are particularly lithe, radiating a special glow that is hard to resist.
…the Flute Concerto in C major…is the highlight of the program…Gallois has it all cornered as well, conducting with a liquid, flowing hand and playing with grace and sensitivity.
Smooth and life-like, the sound is among Naxos’s best. We also hear a pleasant ambient bloom, but not so much resonance that it veils important detail. The ensemble, relatively small, not much more than a chamber orchestra, reflects those of the Classical Period, and the Naxos sound provides ample transparency for them. This is fairly easy-going music, and as such it doesn’t require much crash, boom, bang. The engineers miked it to reveal a suitable distance, too, giving the listener the feeling of being in an actual concert hall, the whole presentation doing just about everything right.
…you get your money’s worth here, a proposition all the more attractive when you consider the relatively low cost of the disc. © 2012 Classical Candor Read complete review
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Review By Classica,March 2012
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Review By Brian Wilson Download Roundup,MusicWeb International,January 2012
With good recording, informative notes and at a tempting price, this is highly recommendable. © 2012 MusicWeb International Read complete review
