The ballet bounces along with tremendous colour, and some elegant woodwind phrasing while Denève's ear for detail pays dividends. He maintains a relentless drive in the Symphony… keeping up a headlong assault throughout.

Denève does justice to a dazzling piece of work, fresh and vigorous, a mix of Stravinskyian rhythms and Debussyian colours… this is a thrilling reminder of an underperformed composer.

The Third is the most sheerly exciting of Roussel's four symphonies. The pounding, soaring opening Allegro vivo has become iconic but there is far more to the symphony than that, with an Adagio of great emotional range, two scherzos (one embedded in the slow movement) and a whirlwind finale that fuses all the expressive elements together by its close.
The RSNO's performance is fully alive to the music's sweep and irrepressible joie de vivre as well as its more lyrical aspects. There is an edgeof- the-seat quality to the interpretation that is winning. In the third span, Vivace, Denève pushes on and here, as in the Allegro con spirito finale, he outpaces his rivals. But it is with its sound and orchestral balance that this newcomer scores, making audible a wealth of detail often submerged.
The woodwinds in particular benefit and their superb playing illuminates Bacchus et Ariane. The cover states that the complete ballet is being presented whereas the track listings show Suites Nos 1 and 2. There is little appreciable difference, the suites mirroring the two acts and published this way after the lacklustre premiere. Suite No 2 has become a warhorse for Francophile conductors but there is much to enjoy in the First. If you are coming new to Roussel, this is the perfect introduction.
Highly recommended.

The Third is the most sheerly exciting of Roussel's four symphonies. The RSNO's performance is fully alive to the music's sweep and irrepressible joie de vivre as well as its more lyrical aspects. There is an edge-of-the-seat quality to the interpretation that is winning, although music director Stéphane Denéve's tempi are slower than Dutoit's... it is with its sound and orchestral balance that this newcomer scores, making audible a wealth of detail often submerged. The woodwinds in particular benefit and their superb playing illuminates Bacchus et Ariane. Highly recommended.

The most recent digital set on Naxos is, on balance, perhaps the best [Roussel cycle], and is certainly well on its way to being the most comprehensive...With the third CD, one comes to...two of the most colourful and vibrant scores of the twentieth century. This is undoubtedly exciting music, and Deneve catches the mood perfectly. The pounding rhythms of the opening of the Symphony No. 3 are perhaps the best captured on CD