BaL 2.06.18 - Schumann: Symphony no. 4 in D minor

[makropulos]

He certainly has, yes - but it's all rather unfair. At least in the hands of someone who really understands how to play his music, there's never a real problem with his orchestration even if it's not specially glamorous. I've seen a fascinating film of Bernstein rehearsing Schumann 2 and paying a lot of attention to orchestral balance, with magical results. And he could be a really imaginative orchestrator too (viz. the trombone writing in the Cologne Cathedral movement of the Rhenish).

[Roehre]

... what we hear today (and have done for quite a while) is Schumann's Schumann - unless you get the Chailly set or one of the others of the Mahler orchestrations (there used to be one on BIS - was it Aldo Ceccato conducting?).

Indeed, Ceccato did them on 2 BIS-CDs, later put together in a 2CD album.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

available on Australian Eloquence!

Thank you. What an amazing label this is turning out to be.

[verismissimo]

I don't think that Karajan/BPO has been mentioned in despatches yet. I rate it very highly, but nothing, for me, touches Furtwangler also with the BPO.

[Barbirollians]

Very fond of Kubelik (DG ) but agree about the Furtwangler - marvellous.

[BBMmk2]

I am not too keen on Schumann's orchestral music.Doesn't grab me at all, unlike Brahms or Schubert. Although I do rather like his 4 Horns Konzertmusik and his Overture, Scherzo and Finale!

[pilamenon]

I've grown into the Schumann symphonies, and very much enjoyed Kubelik's account. Seem to remember a brief discussion with Roehre about which version he was using (the earlier one?). Now about to take in that First Hand reissue with Boult and the LPO - their account of No 1 certainly augurs well.

[amateur51]

I've grown into the Schumann symphonies, and very much enjoyed Kubelik's account. Seem to remember a brief discussion with Roehre about which version he was using (the earlier one?). Now about to take in that First Hand reissue with Boult and the LPO - their account of No 1 certainly augurs well.

I'd welcome a review of this set in due course, please pilamenon

[pilamenon]

I'd welcome a review of this set in due course, please pilamenon

Am51, if you're a Spotify user, they're on there. Several movements are titled langasm.

I find Boult's reading of No 4 just a shade too hard driven and lacking the last degree in charm compared to Kubelik. It's played attacca and is undoubtedly exciting, but it's a rather hard, dry sound for my taste on those 1956 (Walthamstow?) recordings for Nixa/Westminster.

[amateur51]

Am51, if you're a Spotify user, they're on there. Several movements are titled langasm.

I find Boult's reading of No 4 just a shade too hard driven and lacking the last degree in charm compared to Kubelik. It's played attacca and is undoubtedly exciting, but it's a rather hard, dry sound for my taste on those 1956 (Walthamstow?) recordings for Nixa/Westminster.

Many thanks for this - you're a pilamenon - I'm a Spotify lover, the best £4.99 I spend each month I reckon - a huge range of recordings of all sorts, and the subscription means I don't get interrupted by adverts

[HighlandDougie]

Pace Pilamenon, I've been seduced by the First Hand Boult reissue of No 4 (and the other symphonies). There is tape hiss, the playing can be a bit scrappy (but not distractingly so) but there is such enjoyment in the music-making. I would say 'exciting' rather than hard-driven. My benchmarks for a long time have been Szell (especially in the short-lived Columbia Masterworks re-mastering) and Kubelik but I think that the Boult is now up there with them, at least for me. This version, hissy as I've said, is taken from the Pye stereo tapes (as opposed to the Westminster originals which have disappeared) so there is a fair bit of warmth in the sound this time round. The Berlioz overtures are a mix between the Westminster (twin-miked, like Mercury, which sometimes produces odd balances) and the more engineered Pye but just as engaging as I remember from the Golden Guinea LPs, especially Rob Roy. Anyway, for around £5 per CD from Amazon Marketplace, this is a great buy

[pilamenon]

Yes, Highland Dougie, exciting is probably fairer. I listened to the 'Rhenish' today to complete the set, and it's a splendid account, with Boult keeping things moving at a fair old clip. The sound is impressive, but for my ideal Schumann I'd still prefer a bit more warmth, flexibility and charm. Nos 1 and 3 impressed me the most of these Boult versions. Going to sample Krips's reissued 1950s account of No 4 with the LSO on Decca next.

[mathias broucek]

Surprised no one has mentioned Kubelik's 2nd (BRSO) version

For me it's him, Furwangler and Szell

[amateur51]

Bernstein & Furtwangler, but I wish I could get hold of the VPO/Mehta, which I once heard, but never bought.

Why Bernstein? I suppose it's because I saw him conducting it with the VPO in the RAH in 1971, and actually met the great man afterwards.

The complete cycle has just been re-issued on Eloquence, EA - I hope it's useful

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Schumann-Symphonies-Manfred-Overture-Genoveva/dp/B000OPP9SO/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1317731019&sr=1-1

[jayne lee wilson]

The Chailly/Gewandhaus is excellent, and Mahler's orchestration really strikes the ear...

Harnoncourt's COE cycle is a refreshingly astringent, radical view, and uses the original 1841 edition of no.4 (not many do - Kurt Masur used to favour it too); he also did the more familiar revision with the Berlin Phil, weightier but crisply dramatic, c/w Schubert 4 originally, a great disc!

Hans Zender is always stimulating in central Austro-german rep. His big box of Saarbrucken Radio concerts (CPO) included a live Schumann 2 and 4, both fiery and richly sonorous, every phrase freshly minted, which would be in anyone's top ten if available separately. A privilege to own!