…the first question that comes to many people’s minds when they see familiar repertoire recorded more than once, is why do it again when one has done it so well before? I think that the choice to record this concert live is reason enough. The recital begins with the Seventh Symphony; a wise choice as there is little which could successfully follow the Fifth Symphony’s triumphant conclusion. The dramatic opening of the Seventh is achieved beautifully as the soft and sustained woodwind lines are violently interrupted by the tutti orchestra: The textures are remarkably transparent and the articulation clean and crisp; the orchestral surges are palpable. The Allegretto movement has a wonderful sense of growth through its eight and a half minutes, the opening lending a sense of gravity—of magnitude—to the whole. The mood is lightened in the following Presto. The momentum, the drive throughout this movement matches perfectly the urgency, while the Assai meno presto sections that constantly interrupt the preceding A sections maintain that nervousness which is a hallmark of this movement. The lighthearted finale leads to a rousing conclusion.

…Why do it again when one has done it well already? The answer must surely be that great music, performed well, is always an exciting event. And always a bit different the second time around. With superb sound, excellent balance, informative booklet notes, and first-rate performances, what’s to question? Grab it while you can. This one’s a winner. © 2013 Fanfare Read complete review

John Eliot Gardiner and his resplendent Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique rejoice here in the sheer physicality of the music, the bounding rhythms, the stomping accents. The hair-raising reiterations of the finale, driven to the point of exhaustion—the most exhilarating kind of exhaustion—are accentuated by the immediacy of the sound, and the penultimate piledriving climax and coda are absolutely thrilling…