Here at last is a modern digital version of this favourite coupling that I can recommend almost without reservation. There has been no lack of new issues over the last year or so. Quite apart from those listed there are Weller on Chandos (9/92) and Welser-Most on EMI (11/92) from the last year alone. Yet even with Masur on Teldec or Abbado in DG's mid-price digital 3D Classics series, there are points which make them less than ideal. Blomstedt with the San Francisco Symphony has the advantage of even finer recorded sound, far more cleanly detailed than Masur's on Teldec, and unlike Abbado he never runs the risk of seeming sentimental with Andantes on the slow side. In addition he consistently conveys the joy of Mendelssohnian inspiration, with sprung rhythms and warmly affectionate but unmannered phrasing.
So in fast movements Masur seems rather straight-faced next to Blomstedt, and in the slow movement of the Scottish Symphony Blomstedt is warmer than Masur, even though he keeps the music flowing faster. Blomstedt also finds more fun than any of those listed in the delectable scherzo movement of the Scottish, and though he takes the extended coda to the finale rather fast, it is more infectiously bouncy than on the rival versions, whether slower or not. In the first movement of the Italian the San Francisco strings, as recorded, may not be quite so refined as those of the LSO or Leipzig Gewandaus, but again the rhythmic buoyancy makes for a winning performance, and in the third movement the subtlety of Blomstedt's phrasing sets him apart from his rivals. Above all, in his control of tension, his building of excitement, his performances come closer than the others to sounding like live involving occasions. Add to that the splendid quality of sound, full and firm, and the recommendation is clear.'