The Third Symphony, one of Brahms’s most poetic and evocative works, was hailed by the critic Eduard Hanslick as ‘artistically the most perfect…equal to the best of Brahms’s works…a feast for the music-lover and musician’. Arguably the composer’s greatest symphony, it was first performed in December 1883 in Vienna and became an outstanding success. This is the third release in the major new Naxos cycle of the Brahms Symphonies featuring the internationally acclaimed London Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Marin Alsop. Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2 are available on Naxos 8.557428 and 8.557429.