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Title: This is an absolutely awful performance of a wonderful work.
Review: This is the most inept performance of any work by Brian available on CD. The work itself is a towering masterpiece, but one would never know it from Rowe's performance. Rowe does the impossible: He makes the "battle scherzo" which requires 16 horns, 2 pianos, and organ boring! Worse, he makes one of the greatest composers of the 20th century sound incompetent! Having known (and loved) all of the 32 Brian symphonies for many years, I must say that the majority of the performances released on CD are distinctly underplayed. Two exceptions are the very fine Andrew Penny recording of Syms. 20 and 25 and the Bisengaliev performance of the Violin Concerto. This should be absolutely the LAST CD you buy for your Brian collection!
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