LA Phil Store

Conductor: Gustavo Dudamel
Orchestra: Simón Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuala

“The very first statement of the funeral march theme…is played beautifully, with careful attention to dynamics and lots of atmosphere…The second movement's opening is thrilling, the onslaught of the recapitulation positively cataclysmic. The scherzo bubbles along infectiously, with fine playing from the solo horn…Best of all, the finale is magnificent, one of the more successful versions on disc.”
- David Hurwitz, Classics Today

“Brilliantly as the orchestra plays, Dudamel never allows the music-making to become glossy-toned or hysterical, as older and supposedly wiser conductors have sometimes done. He studied the work with Claudio Abbado and in these opening movements the lucidity of his direction is worthy of the master himself.”
- Richard Osborne, Gramophone