There's much to savour in Gardiner's urgently driven account of Ruy Blas, and the vibrato-less string passage that opens Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage is simply spellbinding, reminding us of the wizardry and phenomenal aural imagination that is ever present in Mendelssohn's orchestration.

lovely smooth flowing tempo from Sir John Eliot Gardiner.

Like all of Gardiner’s live cycles of the Mendelssohn symphonies at the Barbican, this one comes across with pace, clarity and flaming-eyed conviction

Ruy Blas is something out of the ordinary, and not only because of its sleek lines and uncommonly fast tempi but in one or two textural anomalies...Calm Sea...subscribes to a similar interpretative formula, clean, drivn and transparent...I'm fairly convinced that Gardiner's way [with the Reformation] was also Mendelssohn's way. It's a powerful reading, solidly argued, often exciting and vividly played throughout.

it showcases Gardiner’s forensic method of working and his very good relationship with the LSO...The two overtures are extremely successful...The blaze of the final peroration [in the Reformation symphony] is thrilling, and Gardiner manages to give the impression that it shouldn’t really sound any other way.

This is something close to the ideal Gardiner experience: stringent while full of expressive detail, close-focus while still drawing the bigger picture...[The Reformation] has no room for stolid sermonising as it practically races to the chorale finale, with some remarkable finesse in the dynamics along the way.

The London Symphony performances, crisp and driving, are attractive and satisfying.

absolutely startling…Gardiner has taken a completely fresh and forensic look at the music, and has virtually reinvented the symphony. It blazes anew: it's as simple and complex, as direct and sophisticated, as that...The LSO, here, is the best period band in the world.