So who made you love the Schumann symphonies?

[ajlee]

Well, if you DO love Schumann symphonies, that is.

For me it certainly was Szell. Zinman is actually my 1st experience, and at first he didn't make me like Schumann for the precise reason I generally don't prefer HIPSter approaches. It's not that Zinman is "cold" (he certainly isn't) or rushed all the time, but texture-wise he certainly was very light. However this kind of sound makes the 1st symph sound entirely appropriate--- very joyful and bustling with energy.

In Schumann Szell's passion for these music is palpable. No people with enough musical intelligence should ever criticize Szell as "cold" after hearing his Schumann. Especially in the 2nd, Szell really injects Romantic passion into his readings---of course, never sacrificing good sound, discipline, and good sense of the musical structure. I especially admire the fact that he's able to always bring out the most important lines no matter how climatic the music gets and how muddy the orchestration supposedly becomes.

I also have Barenboim's Staatskapelle Berlin version. They're also captivating, with wonderful playing, intelligent & passionate interpretations, and very good orchestral balance (tho not as perfect as Szell's). Barenboim makes effort to extract all of the music's expressive potential by adjusting tempi a lot (influence of Furtwangler?), and altho I'm more accustomed to Szell's more straightforward ways, I have to say Barenboim's choices convince me.

[Leo K.]

For me, it was these recordings.

First, is this one:



This recording of Schumann's 2nd was an absolute revelation.


For the other symphonies, it took this recording to really make me a lover of Schumann:



Especially for the 3rd and both versions of the 4th. Hearing Gardiner's Schumann 4th makes tears come to my eyes.

[Bogey]

[Gurn Blanston]

This one put the lie to "Schumann didn't know how to orchestrate" for me. True, he couldn't orchestrate worth a damn for a late 19th century or 20th century orchestra, but he wrote absolutely lovely stuff for the orchestra of HIS time...



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Now playing:
RSO Frankfurt / Hugh Wolff - Antheil Symphony #1 2nd mvmt - Vivo, alla zingaresco, poi 'ragtime'

[Todd]

First this:




And then this:



Quite different interpretations.  The Barenboim is now the first one I reach for.  Well, it has been for a while now.

[The new erato]

This one put the lie to "Schumann didn't know how to orchestrate" for me. True, he couldn't orchestrate worth a damn for a late 19th century or 20th century orchestra, but he wrote absolutely lovely stuff for the orchestra of HIS time...

I also love the Goodman/Hannover Band one, which proves this point even stronger!

[Florestan]

Schumann himself, no doubt. 

[bwv 1080]

Mahler, who fixed the orchestration

[MishaK]

And then this:



Quite different interpretations.  The Barenboim is now the first one I reach for.  Well, it has been for a while now.

The Barenboim definitely. His first outing with the CSO on DG in the 70s wasn't bad either, but the Staatskapelle Berlin version is just brilliant.

[(poco) Sforzando]

I would have to say Leonard Bernstein and the NY Phil. I remember buying the Columbia 2-LP set when I was a freshman in college. Maybe it's a matter of "imprinting" on my first version, but I haven't found any I love as much since. And I remember very well hearing him do the second with the NYP at Fisher a few years before he died, somewhat incongruously paired with his own Songfest.

But I have to also credit Olin Downes's descriptions of these symphonies in his book Symphonic Masterpieces from 1940. Downes was a critic for the NY Times and had his limitations, but at best he wrote beautifully about music, with a genuine poetic gift.

[ajlee]

How's Bernstein's DG set? I heard it's excellent. But is it worth getting after having Szell's and Barenboim's (that is, does it reveal many new aspects of the music)??

[(poco) Sforzando]

How's Bernstein's DG set? I heard it's excellent.

Honestly, I can't say because I don't know. Based on other recordings, I almost always prefer the younger Bernstein, finding the Lenny of the DG years to be generally more ponderous and heavy-handed.

[Daverz]

I think I've always loved these works, though I've been guilty of forgetting it.

One of the earliest Schumann CDs I had was Dohnanyi in 3 & 4, which is still impressive for shear beauty of the Clevelanders playing and the recording.  For color and character, I'd single out Bernstein and the NYP in 1 & 2 (I still don't have the NYP 3 or 4).  I'd like to get the Bernstein DVD of these.

[Scarpia]

Honestly, I can't say because I don't know. Based on other recordings, I almost always prefer the younger Bernstein, finding the Lenny of the DG years to be generally more ponderous and heavy-handed.

Iin this case not so, his recordings with the VPO on DG are played with gusto, and free of typical late Bernstein indulgences.

[Cato]

First this:

By chance, I just happened to hear the Second Symphony from this set today!  The third movement is one of the most under-rated slow movements in the symphonic repertoire.


George Szell made the case that the orchestration is basically fine ( a few adjustments here and there) and that it is the job of the orchestra to play in balance, and that the job of the conductor to conduct, and not re-orchestrate.

[dirkronk]

In my early collecting days, only two Schumann symphony sets maintained their place on my shelves: Bernstein/NY and Szell/Cleveland. Both were on Columbia (US), of course, and both were stereo BUT subpar in the sonics department, at least on the pressings I owned. Nevertheless, they offered genuine musical appeal while many of their better-recorded rivals made me yawn my head off. However, there are a few individual performances that made a serious impact on me--notably an earlier mono of Symphony 2 by Szell/Cleveland which I still like better than the stereo remake, and Furtwangler's take on the 4th. Both of these I still highly recommend. I recall being rather intrigued, too, by a 2nd with Fischer-Dieskau in his very early efforts using a baton instead of vocal cords.

I later acquired other sets that I liked, including Zinman and Gardiner, but I'll stick with the names above as my original Schumann superheroes.

Cheers,

Dirk

[PaulSC]

I've always loved the Schumann Symphonies, the third in particular, but I don't actually own a recording of them. so I guess Robert Schumann himself gets all the credit.

From time to time I to with the idea of getting the Beermann (Robert Schumann Philharmonie) set, but I haven't gone and done it.


[asin]B003T68VMG[/asin]

[(poco) Sforzando]

By chance, I just happened to hear the Second Symphony from this set today!  The third movement is one of the most under-rated slow movements in the symphonic repertoire.

Why do you say that? In most accounts of Schumann I've read, this movement is always singled out for praise.

[ajlee]

However, there are a few individual performances that made a serious impact on me--notably an earlier mono of Symphony 2 by Szell/Cleveland which I still like better than the stereo remake, and Furtwangler's take on the 4th.

Wow! I'm very much interested in knowing how & where you got that mono Szell recording. Is it live? Szell's such an exciting conductor to hear live (not that his stereo efforts are boring) because he's usually a little more free and and you never feel like the stunning orchestral discipline is compromised even a bit.

[val]

Sawallisch with the Staatskapelle Dreden is my favorite version.

Kubelik was touching and Bernsein recorded a fabulous version of the 2nd. Karajan and Gardiner, for different reasons, never enthusiasmed me.

But in the 4th Symphony no one has ever reached the level of Cantelli, with the Philharmonia.