Sound: 9 Notice: 10 Repertoire: 9 Interpretation: 10

“…This album brings Roberto Gerhard back into the spotlight, too rarely seen in concert. He is played here with conviction and character by the BBC Philharmonic under the direction of Juanjo Mena.”

Performance ****      Recording ****

“…[The music is ] charming, fresh, inventive, lively and brilliantly scored … The performance and recording is all that one could wish for. Chandos has done Gerhard proud over the years and this is a very adequate successor…”

“.. Juanjo Mena and the BBC Philharmonic play all three works with feeling and flair…  Chandos’s engineering is both clear and atmospheric.”

Recording of the Month – October 2024

“A great, under-represented 20th-century ballet score, stunningly recorded … urgently recommended.” *****

“… The score is dazzling, dramatic and athletic, all you could want from a ballet, and aurally intriguing … Gerhard the sort-of modernist could really entertain. His score is brilliantly played by the BBC Philharmonic in Manchester, conducted by Juanjo Mena.”   ****

“…Juanjo Mena, a Spaniard, intuitively feels the subtleties of Gerhard's music, and it shows with the wonderful, luxuriant sounds. All the orchestral departments deliver in creating the different narratives with explosions of colour beautifully balanced and captured by Chandos’ sound engineers… The BBC Philharmonic's outstanding musicianship ignites the imagination, drawing the listener into the depths of a tale that depicts all aspects of culture.”

“…An unmissable disc …”

Recording of the Month

“…The conductor has a sure instinct for the original and especially imaginatively composed music. The playing of the BBC Symphony is excellent.” *****

“ ... All three [works] inhabit a musical world that Juanjo Mena, the BBC Philharmonic’s former chief conductor, understands instinctively. His performances are suitably deft and exuberant, making the disc a fine, if belated, addition to Chandos’ invaluable Gerhard series.” ****

“…as with many composers who embraced a more forbidding later style in the serial era, the earlier music is much more approachable and winning, as this program suggests. In the beguiling Spanish apparel of the ballet Don Quixote, there are echoes of Ravel and Falla – some considerable distance from the composer’s later music. And it should be noted that the performance sports all the requisite dash for this early Gerhard …”