Schumann Symphony No 2

[jayne lee wilson]

Did you catch the hurriedly prepared series of Schumann orchestral concerts Sir Charles Mackerras did with the SCO at the EIF in 1999? Here's what Conrad Wilson had to say about it in The Herald at the time:



I saved them to cassette from FM broadcasts at the time and have since transferred them to CD-Rs. I still return to them again and again for a breath of fresh air, though the Goodman CDs of the Symphonies I find even more appealing.

With Goodman, it's been a case of never in the right place at the right time for me, but it would be top of my list now with Nezet-Seguin if and when I come back to this cycle. RC's review of the Goodman is in Gramophone for 3/95 - extremely positive of course!
I don't recall hearing the Mackerras concerts, but I do admire his Brahms set with the SCO.

[Ferretfancy]

Like Petrushka, I always used to have difficulty in appreciating Schumann 2, even though I had the Sawallisch, Kubelik and Zinman sets. Then, quite by chance I came across the Ansermet recording, probably not a first choice, but something in this performance lighted an enthusiasm, I'm not really sure why. Since then I've returned to Sawallisch, and more recently the splendid Abbado.

Incidentally, what do boarders think of the famous Furtwangler BPO version of the 4th? His way of handling the great and mysterious lead into the symphonies finale is positively Brucknerian ! Probably wrong, but amazing!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

With Goodman, it's been a case of never in the right place at the right time for me, but it would be top of my list now with Nezet-Seguin if and when I come back to this cycle.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Lennie in 1953 introducing the Second Symphony, with commendable comments about Schumann's orchestration - not quite "the instruments for which he wrote" (they weren't readily available sixty years ago) but spot on in his appreciation that what Schumann wrote works; and works superbly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwPKz-nv-LI

[Barbirollians]

Lennie in 1953 introducing the Second Symphony, with commendable comments about Schumann's orchestration - not quite "the instruments for which he wrote" (they weren't readily available sixty years ago) but spot on in his appreciation that what Schumann wrote works; and works superbly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwPKz-nv-LI

Fabulous link thanks fhgl

[richardfinegold]

Like Petrushka, I always used to have difficulty in appreciating Schumann 2, even though I had the Sawallisch, Kubelik and Zinman sets. Then, quite by chance I came across the Ansermet recording, probably not a first choice, but something in this performance lighted an enthusiasm, I'm not really sure why. Since then I've returned to Sawallisch, and more recently the splendid Abbado.

Incidentally, what do boarders think of the famous Furtwangler BPO version of the 4th? His way of handling the great and mysterious lead into the symphonies finale is positively Brucknerian ! Probably wrong, but amazing!

Haven't heard it but you have peaked my curiousity.
Just listened to it on Spotify (boy, the pleasure of being able to pull something up instantly...). It is very Brucknerian, but I think it works quite well. That approach would have been terrible for the Spring Symphony but suits the 4th very well.

[CallMePaul]

I have always enjoyed the earlier Kubelik set (BRSO on DG) but recently bought the Abbado when I saw it reduced to £2.99 in the Manchester HMV. Both are fine performances. Prompted by the recent Building a Library on the Spring symphony, I sought out the Holliger recording, which restores some of Schumann's first thoughts (eg the horns in the opening). I notice that it is "Vol1" of Schumann's orchestral music, which suggests that he may be planning a full cycle of the symphonies. I will be very interested to see what he does to No 2 - and No4 of which there are, of couse, two extant versions.

[Karafan]

Lennie in 1953 introducing the Second Symphony, with commendable comments about Schumann's orchestration - not quite "the instruments for which he wrote" (they weren't readily available sixty years ago) but spot on in his appreciation that what Schumann wrote works; and works superbly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwPKz-nv-LI

Yes, my entrée to the symphonies was his NYPO box http://www.amazon.co.uk/Schumann-Cpt...nn+2+bernstein, since then the Schumann shelves have exploded.....