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.
For me, it was these recordings.
First, is this one:
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51r7NYBKJYL._SL500_AA280_.jpg)
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:
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41XP5421J8L._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
Especially for the 3rd and both versions of the 4th. Hearing Gardiner's Schumann 4th makes tears come to my eyes.
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Ci5bd0p7L._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
(http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa159/Gurn_Blanston/41XP5421J8L.jpg)
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... :)
8)
----------------
Now playing:
RSO Frankfurt / Hugh Wolff - Antheil Symphony #1 2nd mvmt - Vivo, alla zingaresco, poi 'ragtime'
First this:
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51FQB9%2BaAfL._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
And then this:
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51CTESs1L4L._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
Quite different interpretations. The Barenboim is now the first one I reach for. Well, it has been for a while now.
Quote from: Gurn Blanston on January 09, 2011, 09:20:06 AM
(http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa159/Gurn_Blanston/41XP5421J8L.jpg)
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!
Schumann himself, no doubt. ;D
Mahler, who fixed the orchestration ;)
Quote from: Todd on January 09, 2011, 10:09:41 AM
And then this:
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51CTESs1L4L._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
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.
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.
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)??
Quote from: ajlee on January 09, 2011, 07:39:25 PM
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.
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.
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/415Q-IE1o4L._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
Quote from: Sforzando on January 09, 2011, 07:43:09 PM
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.
Quote from: Todd on January 09, 2011, 10:09:41 AM
First this:
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51FQB9%2BaAfL._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
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.
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
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]
Quote from: Cato on January 10, 2011, 06:11:28 PM
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.
Quote from: dirkronk on January 12, 2011, 12:52:42 PMHowever, 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.
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.
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41ZCMXSPN0L._SL500_AA240_.jpg)
I agree with Florestan, that Schumann made me fall in love with Schumann's symphonies.....well.....with Schumann in general.
Zinman with Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich.
(http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z208/samdrophy/sinopoli.jpg)
Well, it's the only Schumann symphony I love, but Sinopoli made me REALLY love it.
Quote from: ChamberNut on January 13, 2011, 08:09:37 AM
I agree with Florestan, that Schumann made me fall in love with Schumann's symphonies.....well.....with Schumann in general.
Zinman with Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich.
8) 0:)
I just bought the DG Schumann box yesterday, and played the first disc, Symphonies 1 and 2 conducted by Gardiner, twice in a row. Obviously I liked it a lot.
No surprise who made me fall in love with Schumann:
(http://photos.imageevent.com/sgtrock/nov2013/schumannLPszell.jpg)
Szell's cycle is still my desert island set. Also love Barenboim/Berlin, Bernstein/Vienna and Goodman/Hanover Band.
Sarge
For me it was Bernstein, until I bought this some 10 years ago.
[asin]B0000029PC[/asin]
I don't love Schumann's symphonies, but like Sarge and Tony, the Szell set is my favorite cycle. Tremendous performances.
In my case, Karajan did:
(http://www.deutschegrammophon.com/imgs/s300x300/4777932.jpg)
Quote from: Mirror Image on November 11, 2013, 09:08:24 AM
... the Szell set is my favorite cycle. Tremendous performances.
Aren't these performances reputedly 'corrected' by Szell himself? heard somewhere that the great Hungarian maestro had penciled some slight (?) alterations onto the scores and these rumors drove me away from purchasing the cycle... and I still desist... to my loss perhaps?
Zinman with Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich.
[asin]B0007PLKS4[/asin]
Quote from: Obradovic on November 12, 2013, 03:36:17 AM
Aren't these performances reputedly 'corrected' by Szell himself? heard somewhere that the great Hungarian maestro had penciled some slight (?) alterations onto the scores and these rumors drove me away from purchasing the cycle... and I still desist... to my loss perhaps?
No mere rumor. He did fiddle with the scores. He was a defender of Schumann's symphonies, believing that Schumann knew how to write for the orchestra, even going so far as to publish an article in the New York Times, stating that belief. But in that same article he contradicts himself:
"
To be sure, a Schumann score is not as foolproof, as "self-rising," as a score of Wagner or Tchaikovsky or Richard Strauss, nor has the musical substance of a Schumann symphony the kind of inexorable propulsion of some Beethoven symphonies, which will survive even a shabby performance relatively unharmed. But is it really Schumann's fault that it takes a little trouble on the part of the conductor and orchestra to make his symphonies come off? Schumann's shortcoming as an orchestrator is his inability to establish balances."
The changes are subtle (I don't notice much of a difference compared to other performances); nothing like Mahler's reorchestrations.
Sarge
Quote from: Sergeant Rock on November 12, 2013, 05:11:52 AM...nothing like Mahler's reorchestrations.
I recall reading that Mahler just restored the orchestration to what Schumann originally wrote?
Quote from: Sergeant Rock on November 11, 2013, 06:50:31 AM
Goodman/Hanover Band.
Sarge
Good to see that mentioned. It was my first complete CD cycle and I remember likening it a lot.
Quote from: ajlee on January 09, 2011, 12:47:47 AM
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.
In the LP days, I had Nos. 1 and 4 with Krips and No. 3 with Klemperer. I rather liked Nos. 3 and 4. Later, I got the box set with Szell, which is very good, though I always found the sound pleasant but not very realistic.
I got the Haitink set on CD, which is also very good. But what I actually listen when in the mood are the recordings by Antoni Wit and the Polish NRSO (Katowice) on Naxos. I have had them for a number of years, and I greatly enjoyed them when I was in the hospital over 10 years ago.
[asin]B00000140G[/asin]
[asin]B000001441[/asin]
Quote from: Cato on January 10, 2011, 06:11:28 PM
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.
I agree with Szell on this. The "problems" come because in many modern orchestras, there are 64 or so strings and only single woodwinds. Now, I've got plenty of tone when I play oboe, but not even I can expect seriously to compete with 16 first violins! But with a smaller string section, or doubled woodwinds, the balance "problems" are much reduced. (This approach also works wonders for Beethoven and Schubert and Mendelssohn. :))
Quote from: North Star on November 12, 2013, 05:52:17 AM
I recall reading that Mahler just restored the orchestration to what Schumann originally wrote?
I seriously doubt that! Much as I adore Mahler's music and reputation as a conductor, he is by no means the model of a literalist. :laugh:
My early favorite Schumann recording was the classic (1940s or '50s?) Bruno Walter/NY Phil recording of #3.
I've also played #1 and #4 in orchestra. In Schumann's orchestral music there are few rests and lots of playing, so it's rather tiring, at least for the strings and woodwinds! But there are so many lovely passages that the fatigue is well worth it. ;D
One pet peeve of mine is how many conductors take #3's third movement very, very s-l-o-o-o-w-ly. It's not slow! It's merely
Nicht schnell, "Not fast." The old Walter recording gets the tempo relationships just right: moderately fast in the 2nd movement (sort of an anti-scherzo), slower but not too slow in the 3rd, then slower yet in the "Cathedral" movement.
Shouldn't this thread be renamed ? Going beyond one's first love ( = usually first discographic discovery), one discovers new approaches, defines new personal benchmarks, etc. "Schumann symphony recordings", then ?
I recently listened to the Chailly recordings in the Mahler retouchings. Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Decca.
My very first single Schumann symphony recording was Klemperer's New Philharmonia EMI lp. Love at first hearing. Then Mehta's Wiener Phil lp of 1 and 4. Totally different but almost equally good.
Can't recall which integral was 'first' - either one of Kubelik's or Karajan's Berliner Phil series. Since then I have heard many versions, many discs.
The new (2012 ?) Chailly has the misfortune of seemingly combining different discographic firsts:
- it seems to attempt a norringtonian approach to phrasing and tempo. IOW it is sometimes breathless.
- it uses for that approach one of the oldest, more sonorous bands in the world. There is a stylistic clash of sorts.
- it combines the above with Mahler's numerous orchestrational and agogic touch ups.
What is the listener to make of this combination of editorial / interpretational mish-mash ? What is Mahler's contribution ? And what is due to some kind of norringtonian phrasing dogmaticism? Hard to tell I'm afraid. I didn't like the result. Just couldn't figure what was what in the final mix.
For my money, Klemperer (3, 4), Mehta (1, 4), Bernstein NY (1), Sinopoli (2) make the best case for these works. If it boils down to an integral set, both Kubelik interps are valuable entries.
Quote from: Scarpia on November 12, 2013, 06:20:12 AM
I think almost all conductors take slight liberties with orchestration at one time or another, although they don't always own up to it. The main issue with Schumann, as I have gleened from various cd booklets and confirm with my own listening experience, is that the texture can be monotonously dense because melodic lines are too often doubled---given to more than one instrument to play in unison.
It can be instructive to compare the original version of the 4th symphony with the final version (scores for both are on IMSLP). In the final version, pretty much every solo wind part in the original version gets a doubling somewhere else. (There are also some small but significant changes to the music itself, e.g. the main theme of the finale.) The recording with Roy Goodman/Hanover Band (which coincidentally 0:) happens to be one of the two I have) uses the original version and makes it sound quite good, though I'm not sure whether I ultimately prefer it.
1: Sawallisch EMI
2: Sinopoli I DG
3: Sawallisch EMI
4: Harnoncourt I (BPO) Teldec
Bernstein NY
Sawallisch SD
Revisited this thread after a lapse. I have to say that I cannot imagine any better performances than the Sawallisch/Staatskapelle Dresden. I've only heard them on radio broadcast, but even with the restricted dynamic range typical of radio, everything is intense and just exactly right. ;D
Quote from: Gurn Blanston on January 09, 2011, 09:20:06 AM
(http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa159/Gurn_Blanston/41XP5421J8L.jpg)
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... :)
8)
----------------
Now playing:
RSO Frankfurt / Hugh Wolff - Antheil Symphony #1 2nd mvmt - Vivo, alla zingaresco, poi 'ragtime'
Same set. I could never rustle up great enthusiasm until this. I don't say that this interpretation puts others in the shade, but this
orchestra certainly does.
I have yet to listen to the Sawallisch set. It's there on the shelves, though, still shrink-wrapped.
The Sawallissch os very fine, but the HIP sound (and superb recording) of Gardiner makes the works really take off.
How does Bernstein DG compare to his earlier (OOP) NY account?
And has anyone heard the new set by Nezet-Seguin and the COE yet? Could be very interesting!
Bernstein's NYPO Schumann is generally preferable to his later, more indulgent self in Vienna. In the first sympony you would think they are totally different conductors.
I wasn't aware NS was pursuing a Schumann cycle. The lad is all over the place these days. Did you try his Mahler DLVDE ?
I actually just purchased that, haven't had time to give it a spin yet!
The samples of his Schumann sound quite good...
http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/DG/4792437
[asin]B000006PKI[/asin][asin]B000001GQ5[/asin]
[asin]B000024UKB[/asin] (OOP, currently available in this set:[asin]B000PKG52C[/asin]
The above are my benchmark recordings.
Other favourite versions include the Sawallisch and Barenboim sets already mentioned, as well as Eschenbach and Armin Jordan.
Quote from: Wanderer on May 07, 2014, 07:25:54 AM
The above are my benchmark recordings.
Other favourite versions include the Sawallisch and Barenboim sets already mentioned, as well as Eschenbach and Armin Jordan.
I see your affair with
Schumann's symphonies is a polygamous one 8)
Errr, nobody. I don't love them yet!! Nope nope nope....
I have had the Zinman set for 2½ years, and have the Gardiner in post at present time (and have heard at least a couple of the symphonies from those recordings already ages ago when it was very expensive or OOP). I've also heard Sawallisch's recordings, which I recall preferring to the Zinman. And I've heard nos. 1, 3 & 4 live in Oulu during the past four years. I don't think any conductor/orchestra has really made me suddenly realize I love the music, though.
Quote from: Moonfish on May 07, 2014, 08:44:19 AM
Errr, nobody. I don't love them yet!! Nope nope nope....
Which recordings have you heard? Are Sawallisch or Gardiner among them?
Quote from: North Star on May 07, 2014, 09:24:57 AM
Which recordings have you heard? Are Sawallisch or Gardiner among them?
Neither. The last cycle I listened to was Szell's acclaimed recordings. They did not bring me "the love", but I should of course return to these works. I tend to gravitate to chamber music when it comes to Schumann.
[asin] B0000029PC[/asin]
Quote from: Moonfish on May 07, 2014, 09:29:18 AM
Neither. The last cycle I listened to was Szell's acclaimed recordings. They did not bring me "the love", but I should of course return to these works. I tend to gravitate to chamber music when it comes to Schumann.
Just listen to
Gardiner's -
Schumann didn't write the music for gargantuan post-Mahlerian orchestras, and John-Eliot's band sounds anything but.
https://www.youtube.com/v/pVXt9pO0cpo
I have the Schumann box from DG, but have hardly touched it. I like Gardiner a lot, hopefully he'll break my Schumann impasse (I've played the Szell and Bernstein symphonies, among others, but no real love here yet either....)
Quote from: Baklavaboy on May 08, 2014, 02:42:11 AM
I have the Schumann box from DG, but have hardly touched it. I like Gardiner a lot, hopefully he'll break my Schumann impasse (I've played the Szell and Bernstein symphonies, among others, but no real love here yet either....)
:) ;)
Quote from: North Star on May 07, 2014, 09:33:50 AM
Just listen to Gardiner's - Schumann didn't write the music for gargantuan post-Mahlerian orchestras, and John-Eliot's band sounds anything but.
Quote from: Moonfish on May 08, 2014, 09:02:46 PM
:) ;)
Is that a novel way to write '+1' to
Baklavaboy's post?
Quote from: North Star on May 08, 2014, 11:30:52 PM
Is that a novel way to write '+1' to Baklavaboy's post?
Also known as giving him a "moonie".
Quote from: The new erato on May 08, 2014, 11:37:15 PM
Also known as giving him a "moonie".
Still, there is something fishy about it.
OK, listened to Gardiner's Schmann symphonies (1 and 4), and yes, I'm feeling the magic. Whether it's mostly the playing or the recording, the sound has a lot more color and detail, while also being more charged and exciting.
Pollini piano--listening right now and very happy. It seems like the guts of the box are various lieder or other choral pieces. I kept grabbing those, and although they sound nice enough, that's just not what interests me these days, which is why I never really played much from the box....before :)
Thanks for the tips.
Quote from: Baklavaboy on May 11, 2014, 10:13:18 PM
OK, listened to Gardiner's Schmann symphonies (1 and 4), and yes, I'm feeling the magic. Whether it's mostly the playing or the recording, the sound has a lot more color and detail, while also being more charged and exciting.
Thanks for the tips.
It's the orchestra: size, instruments, amount of vibrato. The "mud in the middle of the string section" aspect goes away.
Quote from: Ken B on May 12, 2014, 07:01:51 AM
The "mud in the middle of the string section" aspect goes away.
That's an interesting way of referring to a viola section... :D
No love for Dohnanyi/Cleveland?
The influence of Szell is clearly there in the prominent woodwind details. The performances are urgent and never driven. Dohnanyi manages a great legato without the stickyness of someone like HvK.
I would characterize the set as a cross between the Sawallisch (a great set without any reservations) and Szell (still top of the heap).
Not mentioned thus far...
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51nOOlsryIL._SY450_.jpg)
My brief Amazon review from May, 2008 is apropos to the thread:
Baked Whitefish Instead of Prime Rib
My difficulty in "penetrating", and thus enjoying Schumann's symphonies was somewhat ameliorated by Kurt Masur's early '90s cycle from London. I'm afraid I'm among those who found the composer's thick orchestrations mostly inscrutible on the surface when heard with virgin ears. These performances are "lean and mean", meaning much of the works' inherent bombast is quelled, their momentum unimpeded but not relentless, their beautiful and dapper melodies are made clearer and assimilable. The seemingly thinned-out strings and the winds blend marvelously, the tympani are nearly imperceptible, and the brass make themselves heard at only the most opportune moments. What's more, Masur offers up the appreciably different and rarely performed original 1841 version of Symphony No. 4. It's all rendered in a vivid and appropriately semi-spacious soundstage. This is baked whitefish as opposed to the usual prime rib. I've since learned to better appreciate a host of bigger and beefier Schumann Symphony offerings. After all, one occasionally enjoys prime rib, but not necessarily so early on a beautiful spring morning.
Answer to the name of the topic: I did.
Inbal's account of the 2nd made me LOVE Schumann.
(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/10/10/y8u2y2eg.jpg)
I was in Bonn once, walked along the Rhine, and also visited the Old Churchyard (Altes Friedhof). I stumbled on the two Wesendoncks, Mathilde and Otto, on Beethoven's mother, and - Robert and Clara Schumann. On my return to Delft, I heard Schumann's Third Symphony on the radio and loved it. Wagner was the reason I had always neglected him (though I liked his songs, which I sang when I took singing lessons in my early twenties). The first set I bought: Bernstein DG. A great introduction. Later on I heard Sawallisch, too, whose performances are natural and convincing.
Quote from: Leo K. on October 09, 2014, 11:54:43 AM
Inbal's account of the 2nd made me LOVE Schumann.
(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/10/10/y8u2y2eg.jpg)
What a concert is on that CD! Fascinating trio to assemble!
My introduction came from the oldie but goodie performances:
George Szell/Cleveland Orchestra[asin]B0000029PC[/asin]
Quote from: J. Z. Herrenberg on February 12, 2015, 03:49:21 AM
I was in Bonn once, walked along the Rhine, and also visited the Old Churchyard (Altes Friedhof). I stumbled on the two Wesendoncks, Mathilde and Otto, on Beethoven's mother, and - Robert and Clara Schumann. On my return to Delft, I heard Schumann's Third Symphony on the radio and loved it. Wagner was the reason I had always neglected him (though I liked his songs, which I sang when I took singing lessons in my early twenties). The first set I bought: Bernstein DG. A great introduction. Later on I heard Sawallisch, too, whose performances are natural and convincing.
Coincidentally, I was also walking the middle Rhine and stopped at Bonn to visit Beethoven's birthplace and stumbled upon Robert and Clara Schumann's grave by chance when I wandered into the grounds where they are buried.
I was familiar with the piano concerto but hadn't paid much attention to the symphonies until I listened to the the third (The Rhenish) and was struck by the mysticism of the section representing the enthronement of the cardinal in Cologne Cathedral, but it wasn't until I heard the opening to the fourth movement of No.4 that I knew Schumann was a great composer. I then bought the Karajan Berlin Phil complete set .
Here's Bernstein in typical form:
http://youtu.be/S-UfnzBhS0s
George Szell, of course--in the form of this Columbia Odyssey LP set, an early purchase in my now decades-long career as a classical collector ;):
(http://www.importsounds.com/images/GEORGE-SZELL_FOUR-SCHUMANN-SYMPHONIES_ODYSSEY_071012.JPG)
I've since purchased a dozen or so different sets of the symphonies, but the recordings to which I now turn for real Schumann love are one-off recordings of the 2nd and 3rd Symphonies by Schuricht and Tennstedt, respectively.
Solti effectively finds the spirit of this great music, though my LP had a different cover. I bought the superb Karajan set on CD, among his finest achievements.
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41NJYX5F7RL._SY300_.jpg)
Karajan had a particular liking for Schumann's symphonies and recorded them with the Vienna Philharmonic as well as the BPO, but I do like Bernstein's energetic performance of these works.
Okay; don't know the Bernstein yet but will seek him out in the Rhenish.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9iikBJj00U
Quote from: Sean on February 13, 2015, 06:07:37 AM
Okay; don't know the Bernstein yet but will seek him out in the Rhenish.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9iikBJj00U
Yes it's a typical Bernstein performance in which, as always, he lived the music and didn't see why he shouldn't enjoy himself while conducting it. I laughed when he started dancing at the beginning of the last movement but, as is usually the case, he gets a tremendous response from the players.
Hi Beaumarchais, the great Bernstein recordings I know include Mahler 7, Petrushka and Tristan; his classical period work I find too heavy.
Looking forward to the Schumann.
Bernstein brings out some of the interesting counterpoint more than others but his tempo is a degree too fast and doesn't luxuriate in and draw out the sound as does Solti; the great opening chord is brought in as though it's Mendelssohn, while slow movements 3 and 4 by contrast I find affectedly slow. Great rapport with the orchestra though and he clearly believes in every note of the music.
I have visited the great Cologne Dom four times. Formidable as it it from the outside, it is a tamer beast when you pass the doors and start visiting the great nave. I think the reason is that the great nave is of more recent construction, with stained glass panels 'barely' 150 years old (more recent than in the time of Schumann's Rhenish). Some of its features (chapels, statuary) are definitely more modern than your average gothic behemoth.