"Ugens album: Nye videnskabelige nodeudgaver har fået Blomstedt til at revurdere symfonierne - og det har fået ham til at sætte tempoet op ... Han foretrækker nu mindre vibrato og en slankere klang end på hans gamle indspilning. Og så er han gået over til den oprindelige orkesteropstilling, hvor første- og andenviolinerne sidder overfor hinanden, og ikke ved siden af hinanden ... Hvad der til gengæld ikke har ændret sig hos Blomstedt, er hans velkendte, prunkløse stil"

"That first cycle employed the Dresden Staatskapelle at its most soft-grained. Now ... he Blomstedt stands in charge of the Leipzig Gewandhaus. Always a tighter-grained ensemble ... Under Blomstedt, the musicians sound at ease yet always on their mettle ... What was gabbled and jittery ... now leaps and bounds and sings. If it's Beethoven the raging tyro you're after, look elsewhere"

"Blomstedt's Beethoven seems right: tempi are never too fast or too slow, but never staid, and phrasing is alive with rhythmic energy and cumulative momentum. His Leipzig players give their all - the strings in particular have a glorious burnished gold sonority - and, in the masterfully paced ninth, Mihoko Fujimura and Christian Gerhaher are especially noteworthy ... This CD release makes a viable alternative to Accentus' ongoing DVD and Blu-ray cycle of the same performances"

"The playing of the Gewandhausorchester is indecently good: how refreshing to hear a full-size orchestra playing these pieces, the weight of sound thrilling in places. Blomstedt doesn't do anything radical; there's no straining for effect or tinkering with tempi or dynamics. He just plays what's written, brilliantly so"