The two discs have the Holberg Suite and Two Elegiac Melodies in common. The Tognetti/ACO disc has consistently though not markedly faster tempi. More importantly the sound of 17 strings on the new disc as opposed to the string sections of the Bergen Philharmonic is not at all comparable. The new disc is more sharply etched, the players really digging into the strings, while the Ruud/BPO is much smoother, and obviously fuller. Both are very well recorded. For what it's worth I don't think this is at all over miked. It's a small orchestra playing in a small hall (300 seats) and the recording makes this abundantly clear. I'm happy to have both recordings. And despite the fact that it will identify me as tasteless in certain quarters, I guess I ought to say that I also enjoyed the String Quartet arrangement, but then I'm a sucker for these things (I love the various Amsterdam Sinfonietta recordings on Channel, though the ACO is a smaller and leaner sounding group that may be a little more appropriate for a quartet arrangement).
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