| 02/16/2005 (3 out of 5 stars) Two Gramophone magazine critics presented this CD as their best classical music CD of 2002, heaping praise on an issue that had already been given much in that category. This led me to consider this recording a few years later when I sought this combination of symphonies.
Given all that, it is difficult to describe the dissatisfaction and alienation I feel after hearing this recording. I wonder what these critics hear in this music I don t? Compared to the outstanding recordings of this (and all other symphonies by Vaughan Williams) by Boult, Previn and especially Handley, Haitink s work is hardly more than routine.