ProStudioMasters.com

"Sinaisky directs searching accounts of the works here and the Malmö players relish the task of tackling repertoire put on the map by the erstwhile director of their Gothenburg rivals along the Swedish coast." - Gramophone "... a very fine performance ... I can hardly wait for the same performers to give us the other symphonies: they should be well worth hearing ... performances and recorded sound cannot be faulted and the notes by Adam Binks are well worth reading." - MusicWeb International "... (Sinaisky) leads a convincing performance with the Malmö Symphony Orchestra ... there are good parts aplenty in the Notre Dame excerpts ... Schmidt’s opera displays the composer’s keen dramatic instincts and developing orchestral mastery (the colourful Carnival Music is quite captivating) ... a first-rate performance, captured in excellent sound by Naxos. If you’re interested in early Schmidt, you’ll do quite well with this release." - ClassicsToday.com This lavishly-praised 2009 release from Vassily Sinaisky and the Malmö Symphony Orchestra showcases Franz Schmidt's finely crafted, grandiose and optimistic Symphony No. 1, which recalls masterpieces by other great Romantic composers Brahms, Bruckner and Reger. The programme also includes excerpts of Schmidt's opera Notre Dame, based on Victor Hugo’s novel. Sinaisky and the orchestra make a strong case for the revival of Schmidt’s strangely neglected, yet sumptuous and deeply satisfying music.