"Rapidly shifting moods in I are captured well, and with great power when needed. II is great; the central fugue has never been this clear before, and the percussion at the end is appropriately chilling. III is powerful, and eerie at the end, better than Gergiev's." ~SA-CD.net
"Icy cold I. II and III are powerful. Rostropovich's recording also has great sound, and perhaps a little more character. Sanderling's stereo SA-CD is a very good performance but no competition sonically." ~SA-CD.net
"Beautiful, full rich string sound, and great sound overall. I is fantastic. II is slightly slower than I prefer (about 4'30"), but Kitajenko does very well with it, sustaining tension throughout. III is terrific; you can hear and feel the soft percussion toward the end. IV again has a slightly slower basic tempo than usual, but tension is sustained throughout, and the playing responsive." ~SA-CD.net
"…An amazing SACD. As interpretations, both of these are in a class of their own, the Franck having strong claims of being the best ever performance of this greatest French late romantic orchestral work. Almost certainly they will never be equalled let alone bettered on SACD." ~SA-CD.net
"Excellent performance and sound. Powerful trombone pedal tones in ii; piano sounds very naturally placed on the stage. Excellent timpani solo in iii. Coda of iv very exciting. Better than Fedoseev's performance/recording; I haven't heard Masur's yet." ~sa-cd.net
"Amazing to hear this much detail in this densely polyphonic work. Factory siren overly centered but otherwise excellent sound. The orchestra holds back a little dynamically for the choral passages." ~SA-CD.net
"Beautiful, full rich string sound, and great sound overall. I is fantastic. II is slightly slower than I prefer (about 4'30"), but Kitajenko does very well with it, sustaining tension throughout. III is terrific; you can hear and feel the soft percussion toward the end. IV again has a slightly slower basic tempo than usual, but tension is sustained throughout, and the playing responsive." ~sa-cd.net
"Full and rich start. Slight transient noise from left front in first movement, about 3 minutes in. Horns at start of IV lack a little nobility, but otherwise performance is excellent throughout; timpani in IV, starting about 6'20", are thunderous." ~sa-cd.net
"Moving, intelligent, and sometimes powerful singing by the bass soloist throughout. Good chorus. Chimes are chillingly reproduced, as are some of the other percussion effects (for instance the woodblock in "In the Store"). Excellent tuba playing in "Fears"." ~sa-cd.net
"The music from Richter 858 was originally commissioned and recorded to accompany a book of paintings by Gerhard Richter, which was only available in limited quantities back in 2002. Tony Reif of Songlines decided to rescue the recordings from obscurity, and re-released them in early 2005. The band is Frisell on guitar and delay, Eyvind Kang on viola, Jenny Scheinman on violin, and Frisell's old bandmate Hank Roberts on cello. The pieces were directly inspired by a specific painting, and recorded live to two-track with no editing or overdubs."