Part of BIS's "Opening Doors" series of chamber orchestra recordings, this enticing set of masterwork symphonies from Franz Schubert presents these works with about 30 or so players. This, of course, has a big impact on the ensemble sound. Those who have become accustomed to large orchestra, string-heavy performances may not take too kindly to this approach. Me, I found it utterly delightful. Thankfully, they play modern instruments at modern pitch with no pretensions to historically informed performance practices - just plain 'ole high calibre, exuberant music-making. Despite the small orchestra, there is no lack of dynamics in Dausgaard's conducting. He shapes the music beautifully though some of the tempos are on the fleet side. The great C major clocks in at 58 minutes which seems to be typical for this work so some of this fleetness may just be an impression due to the smaller ensemble size and the great clarity Dausgaard achieves (I don't own the score so I can't say how repeats are handled).
The recorded sound is magnificent! Two different engineers worked these sessions (Martin Nagorni for the "Unfinished" and Andreas Ruge for the "C Major") and they were recorded at the Orebro Concert Hall, Sweden. A near-perfect blend of direct and hall sound - not over-resonant - make for an immediate and satisfying listening experience. If you are curious about how these works sound in chamber orchestra garb, rush out and buy this. You won't be disappointed!
EDIT: after posting this, I saw that Robert from BIS had already commented that all repeats are taken in these performances. That, then, explains why the performance sounds so fleet yet the total time is in line with typical timings for the Great C major (where some repeats are not taken).
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