Scheherazade and Capriccio espagnol are Rimsky-Korsakov’s best-known and most frequently performed works…these tuneful and brilliantly orchestrated pieces can still give much pleasure in compelling performances…the orchestra plays beautifully under [Carlo Ponti’s] direction, with a rich and colorful sound…Throughout, the excellence of the orchestral playing, conveyed in vivid, transparent sound, provides much satisfaction. The violin solos are beautifully and sensitively handled by Tatiana Porshneva. © 2012 Fanfare Read complete review on Fanfare

Toda la música de Rimsky tiene un “color” especial. Para ser más exactos: tiene un “aroma” especial, en opinión de este crítico. Pocos compositores provocan sinestesias tan claras en quien escribe estas líneas como el autor de Scheherezade. No sé si será la brillante y sutil orquestación de todas sus obras o la elección de argumentos exóticos en buena parte de ellas; el caso es que, para mí, casi toda la música del compositor de Nóvgorod huele de un modo singular. Sensaciones subjetivas aparte, lo cierto es que las obras contenidas en el presente CD resultan muy sugerentes. Desde las archiconocidas Obertura de la Gran Pascua Rusa y Capricho español, hasta las oberturas de las óperas Noche de mayo, La novia del zar y La doncella de Pskov, pasando por la pimpante marcha Dubinushka y la Obertura sobre temas rusos, los pentagramas de Rimsky son auténtica orfebrería sonora. Y el tándem formado por Schwarz y la Sinfónica de Seattle, que supera ya el cuarto de siglo de vida, denota una gran complicidad y exhibe un excelente oficio al traducir estas músicas. Sus versiones tal vez no sean de las que provoquen los “aromas más intensos”, pero se escuchan con agrado y, desde luego, no “atufan” con un exceso de idiomatismo. © 2012 Ritmo

Operavore 2011 Gift Guide

Capriccio espagnol and Russian Easter overture…are both, without question, superbly crafted and highly effective musical evocations that offer a wide range of opportunities for displays of orchestral virtuosity.

All are played with considerable aplomb and do a fine job of whetting one’s appetite for the full scores. Schwar…offers an attractive account of the composer’s orchestration of the radical student song Dubinushka…it certainly benefits from Naxos’s state of the art recording.

Rimsky’s orchestral music is so deftly written that in the hands of today’s top-flight professionals it almost plays itself. But the Seattle Symphony’s performances for Gerard Schwarz don’t just sparkle, as you would expect at this kind of supercharged American technical level. Their brilliant response is also strongly characterised at every point; Capriccio espagnol here has a dark and spicy pungency that makes it something more than just a pretty Spanish postcard…It’s genuinely difficult to imagine better performances. This is a delicious orchestral feast.

Familiar as the pieces in this collection may be, the performance, sound quality and interpretation stands out for the vitality, creativity, and resonance that comes with this recording. Under Schwarz’s direction a well-known piece like Rimsky-Korsakov’s Russian Easter Festival Overture sounds fresh…

…admirable for the exemplary performances…Read complete review

Capriccio espagnol is given a stunning performance here… This is perhaps Gerard Schwarz’ finest hour with the Seattle Symphony, even more than their stunning 1992 account of the Russian Easter for the Delos label. Forget the “budget label“ stigma: with the committed musicianship and stunningly beautiful recorded sound we hear on this Naxos offering, it should be a contender for honors in one or more categories when next the Grammys are handed out! Read complete review

…a nearly complete success and a real pleasure to hear. This is a CD worth having for the combination of interesting repertoire and very fine presentation.