Earlier recordings by Teodor Currentzis indicated an extraordinary talent but recent publicity has typecast him as a classical bad-boy, polarising critical opinion and raising hackles – the way some press carried on about his Mozart opera series you’d think he’d invented HIP. That sort of hype is difficult to ignore and counter-productive, and I confess I was ready to hate this latest release but tried to listen impartially and must admit to being bowled over.

 

Depending on where your sympathies lie, this is either the most revelatory and expressively charged performance you’ve ever heard or the most contrived and vulgar. While the tempi are quite conventional, Currentzis and his fearless orchestra go all out to wring every last drop of...