"...an impressively elegant, thoughtful, well‑balanced and sophisticated Tchaikovsky Pathétique…carefully sculpted phrasing in the finale’s thematic statements, their pointed articulation throughout the second movement and the X‑ray clarity of the low strings underneath the bassoon solo in the first movement’s opening Adagio…The second movement’s outer sections take Tchaikovsky’s con grazia directive to heart, with the melodies taking playful shape as they move over the bar lines. The finale’s songful fluency and unanimity of phrasing communicate a dignified reserve…in the third movement, Bernard’s excellent textural contouring gives bristling focus to the compound 12/8 and 4/4 metre, and the march theme’s wonderful trombone and tuba parts emerge like newly scrubbed details in a restored painting…Bernard and his musicians frequently shed new and valuable light on a thrice-familiar standard, abetted by a recorded ambiance that evokes concert hall realism.”