Schumann: Symphony No. 2 in C major, Op. 61

Although Otto Klemperer was approaching his 80s and not always in the best of health, the years 1967/68 were a period of great activity for him. The interpreter and creator who had been so at home with the radicalism of late 1920s-early 1930s Berlin picked up on the energy and youth of the age in 1960s London both to make and to work with new friends and colleagues.

With Pierre Boulez he attended and debated contemporary music concerts... . With Daniel Barenboim Klemperer debated Mahler 7, engaged in friendly banter about his own compositions and agreed ... to record with him the Beethoven Piano Concertos and Mozart No.25. He even did some work with Jacqueline du Pré on a test recording of Strauss’s Don Quixote. On his visit to Bayreuth he met Anja Silja and was charmed by her personality and the unsentimental nature of her performance as Elisabeth in Tannhäuser.

While Klemperer’s interest in cutting-edge contemporary music remained lively... his own performing and recording repertoire remained of an earlier vintage... . His Mahler now expanded to take in Symphonies Nos.7 and 9... . The Mozart operas and late symphonies that had once been so important to him... would now be performed, and recorded, in London as well... .

The London newspaper critics in October 1968 talked about this performance of Schumann Two as the rediscovery of a long lost work... . At first Peter Stadlen was perplexed: ‘it still comes as a surprise that Otto Klemperer’s tidily analytical mind will enter a happy symbiosis with Romantic music’. Mosco Carner (The Times) worried about Schumann’s mental health at the time of the score’s composition: because he was having ‘dark days’ (the composer’s own euphemism) surely the symphony couldn’t be good? ‘With Schumann’s difficulty in thinking in strict symphonic terms and his often clunky management of orchestral mechanics, the work would seem to merit its neglect’. Yet, eventually, Carner’s heart won out over his head. ‘Genius must out.

For all its faults each of its four movements contains moments of the sheerest beauty and the Adagio is a pure gem – typical Schumann in its introspection and Versponnenheit (‘airiness’) and demonstrating the puzzling fact of being like most of his slow movements, most imaginatively scored’.

Kenneth Woods and Orchestra of the Swan continue their revelatory cycle pairing the symphonies of Hans Gál and Robert Schumann, with the world premiere recording of the Gál’s Fourth and Schumann's Second.

Kenneth Woods’ and Orchestra of the Swan’s world-premiere recording of Hans Gál’s Symphony No. 3, coupled with Schumann’s Third (AV 2230), was one of the most lauded classical releases of 2011. With features on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered and Performance Today, in Gramophone and BBC Music Magazine, and dozens of newspaper and online reviews, a new generation is discovering and seeking out Gál’s wide-ranging and extensive oeuvre. Ken, a prolific blogger, further stokes the interest with his extensive posts on A View from the Podium, one of the 25 most read classical blogs in the world.

Woods and OOTS continue their cycle which pairs these two composers, with the world premiere of Gál’s Fourth and Schumann’s Second. Written in his ninth decade and premiered in 1975, Gál’s Fourth and final Symphony is scored for chamber orchestra and akin to a concerto grosso. The music exhibits Gál’s trademark pastoral and lyrical style, yet inwardly this is music of intense rigor and deep concentration. While Gál’s compositional pedigree is strongly linked to the Austro-German tradition of the Viennese classical masters, Schumann’s Second looks to an earlier era, taking much inspiration from the spirit of J.S. Bach with its contrapuntal textures and chorale themes.

Inspired by his wife, Clara, Robert Schumann wrote four symphonies over a decade, with No 1, the ‘Spring’, first perfomed – under Felix Mendelssohn – in 1841. Riccardo Muti’s distinction in this cycle is affirmed by Gramophone’s review of No.3, the ‘Rhenish’: ‘The rhythm is firm and bold, the melodic line clearly drawn, the individual playing given every encouragement, not least with some magnificent horn solos. He is no less masterly and sympathetic with the finale.’

June 2010 marks the bicentenary of one of the most celebrated romantic composers: Robert Schumann. To mark this Sony Classical are releasing all four Schumann symphonies in new recordings with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra under its chief conductor Sakari Oramo. This first disc features symphonies Nos. 1 ("Spring Symphony") and 2.

In recent years, the Finn Sakari Oramo has become one of the most exciting conductors and has established a truly international reputation. In 1998 he succeeded Simon Rattle as principal conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and in 1999 he was promoted to music director. Since 2008 he has been Chief of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, which has received some excellent press under his leadership, particularly for the interpretation of the romantic repertoire.

For Schumann Year 2010 Deutsche Grammophon is reissuing this distinguished cycle of Schumann symphonies by Rafael Kubelik, whose first major project for the Yellow Label this was. Hitherto available on CD consistently only in France, it deserves wider circulation.

"Rafael Kubelik and the Berlin Philharmonic light up Schumann's often unappreciated powers of orchestration. [...] This set must now be considered the top buy for Schumann's symphonies" Classic CD, September 1994

"There can be little doubt that Rafael Kubelik's first (BPO) set of the Schumann symphonies - generously coupled with the Genoveva and Manfred Overtures - will compete successfully among other bargain contenders for 'top bargain recommendation'" Rob Cowan, Gramophone, July 1994

"Kubelik brings both vitality and warmth to these scores and the Berlin Philharmonic respond with playing of great freshness and eloquence. The recording is made in a warm acoustic, yet detail registers with admirable clarity and in good perspective. Kubelik's readings are completely straightforward and devoid of egocentric mannerisms" Robert Layton, Gramophone, September 1975

The Decca Ansermet Legacy on Eloquence continues to garner the highest plaudits from publications all around the world and the latest batch presents the maestro’s recordings of four key Austro-German Romantics: Schubert, Weber, Mendelssohn and Schumann. This 2-CD set brings together all of Ansermet’s Schumann recordings for Decca.

Ansermet’s Schumann is generally unforced and relaxed, with all but the Piano and Cello Concertos making their first international appearance on CD. In the Piano Concerto – a live radio broadcast recording with Lipatti, newly remastered for this release – Lipatti seems to drive the orchestra to new levels of excitement.

As with many of the (relatively few) concertante works Ansermet recorded, the soloists are drawn from the orchestra – as is the case with Edmund Leloir, principal horn of the OSR from 1952-77, for the Adagio and Allegro, originally for horn and piano and, for this recording, orchestrated by Ansermet. Maurice Gendron, soloist in the Cello Concerto, was one of Jacqueline du Pré’s teachers. The Schumann concerto was one of his specialties; he frequently played it when he was invited to appear with orchestras.

“Gendron's performance is instinct with poetry, and, with Ansermet, he achieves a lucidity of expression which is very taking … artistic integrity and understanding which is utterly remarkable” Gramophone

[Schumann's' Symphony No 1] “…a wonderfully light and graceful performance” Gramophone

[Lipatti's Schumann] “…a deeply moving performance. Lipatti plays con amore, almost as if aware the opportunity might never come again” Gramophone