Symphonies Nos.5 & 6

"Very fine and underrated works, this version is a superb value...Very well played and warmly recorded, this is a welcome addition to the Naxos cycle of Arnold symphonies...Andrew Penny draws fine, concentrated playing from the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, with brass and percussion in particular brilliantly caught. As a bargain version this wins the highest recommendation."
- Gramophone (Edward Greenfield) June 2001

"Malcolm Arnold's music is so well crafted and effectively scored that it seldom fails to make a good impression, as fine recent recordings of the symphonies from Vernon Handley (Conifer) and Richard Hickox (Chandos) have convincingly demonstrated. Naxos' ongoing cycle, recorded in the presence of the composer, equals them, and in this case takes the palm pretty convincingly. Credit for this rests squarely with conductor Andrew Penny. The National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland plays very well, but it doesn't have quite the bravura of Hickox's London Symphony. It's the interpretations that make the difference. In the Fifth Symphony, for instance, both Hickox and Handley fly through the first movement, then linger over the second. Penny takes a bit more time at the opening, allowing the delicate sonorities of the second subject the necessary room to blossom, and he doesn't linger quite so much over the Andante con moto, enhancing its oddly disturbing mixture of tackiness and despair.

"This approach also works very well in Symphony No. 6's Lento, with its pop music inflections, while in the same work Penny's ever-so-slightly deliberate finale (shades of Shostakovich!) perfectly realizes the ironic hollowness of its ultimate victory. These aren't huge differences, but the opportunity to make comparisons among various versions not only increases admiration for the viability of Arnold's symphonic achievement, but it offers convincing proof of Penny's ultimate superiority. Nor does Naxos have to take second place in the sonic sweepstakes: this is one of the label's best sounding recordings from this source. Superb."
- ClassicsToday.com (David Hurwitz) April 11, 2001

Sir Malcolm Arnold celebrates his 80th birthday later this year, and as the record industry's major tribute to this great British composer, Naxos are releasing the final two discs in their symphonic cycle. It is a unique series, Sir Malcolm having been present at all of the recording sessions, his latest thoughts woven into the performances. The Fifth has been his most popular symphony, its dramatic opening movement contrasting with that creamy melody at the opening of the Andante. The Sixth Symphony, spiced with Russian overtones, is a very different score, aggressive climaxes and unexpected harmonies featuring in the opening movement. The sombre central Lento moves to a bizarre dance, and after the darkness departs in the finale, the work ends in a mood of hollow triumph. Andrew Penny has an intuitive feel for Arnold's scores, the music ideally paced and always free of the sentimentality the composer dislikes. The sound quality packs real sonic punch, and the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland plays brilliantly, the brass relishing their key role. The last disc in the series is promised later in the year.

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he National Symphony Orchestra is one of the most vibrant internationalorchestras playing and recording today. The NSO has developed under the auspices of Radio Telefis Eireann, not only as an integral part of the Irish national broadcasting service, but also as the back bone of classical music throughout Ireland.
In addition to its concert season in the National Concert Hall, Dublin, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland also undertakes twice-yearly national tours, in association with the Irish Times, ensuring that in addition to fulfilling its broadcasting commitments, RTE brings top-class music making to thousands of people in regional centres.

Around the world too, the NSO is creating a widespread reputation through its multi-disc contract with Naxos, one of the world's largest classical music labels and it is now among the most extensively recorded orchestras in the world. It has earned high international praise for its complete Nielsen cycle, Aida, the Tchaikovsky suites and works by Havergal Brian and Malcolm Arnold, working with artists such as Stefan Sanderling and Maria Kliegel. Current output includes an Irish Composer Series and complete cycles of Rachmaninov and Mendelssohn. The recording of Rubenstein's The Demon at the 1994 Wexford Opera Festival received the German Critic's Quarterly Award and its recording of Meyerbeer's L'Etoile du Nord from the 1996 Festival and the CDs of Bruckner Symphonies nos. 2 and 8 are receiving world-wide critical acclaim. Recent releases include Rachmaninov Symphony no.3, conducted by Alexander Anissimov and Elena de Feltra from the 1997 Wexford Festival.

Having been the resident Orchestra at the Hong Kong Midsummer Classics Festival in 1996, the NSOI toured in the spring of 1997 to Edinburgh, Glasgow, London and Innsbruck. In March 1998 the orchestra undertook a concert tour of Germany to great critical acclaim. In July their two concerts in the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam and received standing ovations under Kasper de Roo and Alexander Anissimov.