Beethoven: Symphony No. 5; Wellington's Victory; Egmont

"'How do you make a trumpet sound like an oboe?' . . . 'Of course we aren't trying to pretend to be a symphony orchestra. We are trying to offer another perspective on the music.' And this recording certainly does that. . . . While the overall effect is essentially more robust than with an orchestral texture, and dynamic range is more limited . . . nevertheless the music-making is undoubtedly compelling, especially when the easy bravura of the players is always put at the service of the composer. . . . The first movement has both excitement and grip, the melody of the Andante sings . . . . The lower brass are very impressive in their running passages in the scherzo . . . and the only movement that might seemingly have had even more impetus is the finale, and even that does not really disappoint. . . . The fat sonorities at the opening chords [of the Egmont Overture] offer a rich parallel with the orchestral effect. The lyrical running passages of the allegro bring attractive interchanges . . . and the emphatic fanfare which is so striking on the horns in the orchestral version is just as telling here. . . . The recording itself is undoubtedly in the demonstration class . . . and the playing throughout has the sophistication of the concert hall rather than bringing any suggestion of the bandstand." -- Ivan March, The Gramophone