We couldn’t be more excited aout the fact that Gramophone Magazine has selected the Orchestra of the Swan’s new recording Hans Gal’s Symphony no. 4 and Robert Schumann’s Symphony no. 2 as a “Gramophone Editor’s Choice” for the month of July. The July edition of Gramophone was released on the 8th of June and is available everywhere. You can hear an extract from the CD on the Gramophone Player here, and read the full review from critic Guy Rickards here. A short sample of the review follows.
“In addition to the remarkable limpidity of Gál’s scoring, the overall atmosphere is lyrically pastoral. But appearances are deceptive, as Woods notes in his intelligent booklet-notes, noting the music’s ‘intense rigour and deep concentration’ where what ‘seems the simplest and most straightforward…proves to be the most sophisticated and complex’. There are lighter moments aplenty, particularly in the second and fourth movements (framing the beautiful Duetto: Adagio), respectively a gentle evocation of Harlequin and Columbine and a ‘Buffoneria’, the title of which does no justice to its subtle design.
The Orchestra of the Swan provide a quietly compelling account, relishing the many solos, duos and textural intricacies that Gál wrings from his orchestra. Their account of Schumann’s C major brings playing necessarily of greater fire. While Zinman’s just still remains first choice, Woods’s finely wrought interpretation confirms his credentials – if confirmation were needed – as a symphonic conductor of stature… Strongly recommended.”
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