This is a disc of pure delight.

This brilliant release features a live recording of the Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique led by Sir John Elliot Gardiner performing Schubert’s Symphony No. 5 and Brahms’ Serenade No. 2 in A Major. The recorded concert took place in November 2016 inside the stunning acoustics of the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam. Schubert’s Symphony No. 5 was written mainly in September 1816 and was completed on October 3 of that same year just six months after the completion of his prior symphony. In character, the writing is often said to resemble Mozart; Schubert was infatuated with the composer at the time he composed it. Brahms’ second Serenade was written in 1859 and dedicated to Clara Schumann. The five movement work is scored for chamber orchestra, including double woodwinds but omitting violins, trumpets, trombones and percussion.

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REVIEW:

In matters of colour and timing, the playing of this early-Romantic repertoire has undergone its own revolution in the past 30 years. Under Goodman and Mackerras, even Minkowski, the Minuet of Schubert’s Fifth is neat but plain by comparison with Gardiner. Every phrase of the Andante is weighted and cherished. For its combination of tenderness, gravity and springtime joys, the performance may be set alongside Klemperer’s Philharmonia (with a first flute, Marlen Root, who has nothing to fear by comparison with Gareth Morris). The conclusion is quickly faded, but applause is retained after the Brahms. It’s a disc of pure delight.

– Gramophone