Following their much-praised Schubert recording (‘the most thrilling account of Schubert’s last symphony’, BBC Music Magazine), Maxim Emelyanychev and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra are reunited for their highly anticipated second album on Linn, this time performing Mendelssohn’s Symphonies Nos. 3 & 5. Inspired by the natural beauty of Scotland – and what better way to celebrate SCO’s 50th anniversary in 2023 than the Scottish Symphony! – No. 3 has a fiery character well suited for the ‘dynamic, energetic and exciting to watch’ conductor Maxim (The Guardian). Despite its numbering, No. 5 (known as the Reformation) is an early work which evokes the struggles and triumph of Protestantism. Its final chorale based on Luther’s much celebrated ‘Ein' feste Burg’ draws the album to a reaffirming end.

What the critics have said

"I was completely blown away by this disc." (Record Review, BBC Radio 3)

"I have never heard the Reformation Symphony sound so lean, so simple and yet so urgent." (Pizzicato)

"[Emelyanychev's] energy drives the [Scottish] symphony along, ensuring a fierce storm sequence, a keen clip to the Scottish dance rhythms and a less bloated, pompous coda at the end than usual ... It will be very good to have the other symphonies when Emelyanychev and the SCO are ready." (Financial Times)

"The rich sonority [of the wind section in the Reformation Symphony] is striking." (BBC Music Magazine)

"A compelling performance ... it is a pleasure to discover this CD." (Hageland Klassiek)