Beethoven 1 & 3 Recording – Hugh Canning

One might question why a catalogue heaving with recordings of the Beethoven symphonies needs another set from a regional, part-time chamber orchestra, but Douglas Boyd has already demonstrated remarkable gifts as a symphonic conductor. He was mentored in Mozart by the late Sandor Vegh, and in Beethoven by Claudio Abbado and Nikolaus Harnoncourt. He is no slavish imitator of either, however. These are refreshingly “straight” but compelling accounts of both symphonies, scrupulously observant of Beethoven’s dynamic markings and wonderfully transparent in the recent Abbado manner, with woodwind solos emerging effortlessly, as if in period-band performance, from the string textures. Boyd sustains a remarkably expansive Funeral March, the emotional climax of the Eroica and the crowning achievement of this remarkable, collectable disc.

Beethoven 1 & 3 Recording – Hugh Canning, Arts and Culture Journalist – The Sunday Times