A Hebridean Symphony / Old English Suite

"From time to time, East European orchestras seem to play British music better than their UK rivals, but maybe that's to be expected when a conductor of Adrian Leaper's proven ability is in charge. He already has a fine roster of recordings of English music to his credit, and on this 1989 Marco Polo production, now reissued at budget price on Naxos, Leaper directs an assured and strongly idiomatic account of Granville Bantock's rarely played 'Hebridean' Symphony of 1915. It's a strongly colored, impetuous work, deeply imbued with the spirit of Scottish folk music, and Leaper's Czech band sounds entirely at home with it...The recording is brightly lit, credibly balanced, and just a little crude-sounding at major climactic points." - ClassicsToday.com (Michael Jameson) April 29, 2001