Brahms Symphonies

Recorded live at the Royal Festival Hall, this first instalment in a complete Brahms cycle may not offer the technically immaculate playing of some rivals but outstrips most of them in its immediacy.... — BBC Music Magazine, November 2008, 5 out of 5 stars More…

everything seems in focus: not just the tempo, but also the rhythmic drive and urgency seem absolutely right in the third and fourth movements...This performance gives a lively sense of what... — BBC Music Magazine, December 2010, 5 out of 5 stars More…

…urgent, magnificently angry… This is Gardiner at his penetrating, combative best, making contact with the music's heartbeat in a way that sounds both radical and natural… — BBC Music Magazine, November 2009, 5 out of 5 stars More…

In the Second Symphony the period strings' lighter articulation gives Brahms's rhythms a sprightlier feel than in many modern sessions. …in Gesand der Geister Gardiner avoids any awkward episodic... — BBC Music Magazine, April 2009, 4 out of 5 stars More…