MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Schubert: Symphonies Nos 5, 8 (Completed by Brian Newbould) / Rosamunde: Incidental Music

"The main point of interest in this disc is the 'completion' of Schubert's 8th Symphony by Brian Raybould. Professor Raybould has taken Schubert's sketches for the third movement Scherzo which were left in piano score along with two pages already completed in full score. The Trio had just one melody in the first section so some conjecture and speculation have been called for to go further. To this fleshing out he has added the B Minor entr'acte from Rosamunde as the fourth and final movement. - an ending to the symphony that has long had advocates. The Raybould conclusion has been recorded previously and this recording helps to confirm it as a plausible option in one of music's great "what if''s".

Charles Mackerras is a conductor who has never been reluctant to use the best of what period performance can offer yet without turning his back on the traditional, and here with an Orchestra dedicated to the period style and specialist instruments he is completely at home. There are some period specialists who seem to revel in extremes of tempi and their players can sometimes be heard to struggle to match the baton. Here Mackerras sets a relaxed choice of tempi throughout and the OAE seem to revel in the choices he makes.

Recommended listening - you do not need to be a period performance devotee to enjoy it."
(MusicWeb Sept 2000)