Schumann: Symphonies Nos. 1-4 (complete)

For the young Schumann, the composition of symphonies was a long-held ambition, one that could only be fulfilled through a whirlwind apprenticeship in mastering piano music, song and chamber music. Each genre he worked on with feverish intensity until in 1841, having finally overcome the obstacles placed in his way by his beloved Clara’s father, Friedrich Wieck, he married her, and promptly set to work, as if to prove to her, to himself and to the world that he was fit to emulate Beethoven’s example. The ‘Spring’ Symphony he dashed off in a matter of days, and although the subtitle had its roots in a (suppressed) piece of poetic inspiration, there’s no question that this is young man’s music of the highest exuberance, bursting with vitality and with the thematic links that charge Schumann’s works with sometimes dangerous energy. If the later symphonies are more soberly organised, if anything their expressive impact is all the greater, reaching a peak in the Bachinspired central section of the Second’s slow movement and the awesome processional of the Third’s fourth movement, which he wrote, as it were, in the shadow of Cologne Cathedral.

Riccardo Muti has long been a champion of these works which many other great names have shunned for their supposedly faulty orchestration or wearisome intensity. In this, his second recorded cycle, he finds a supple lyricism, aided by what is generally acknowledged as the finest string section in the world.

This 2 Hybrid SACD set of Schumann’s Symphonies 1-4 is performed by the most ideal interpreters; the Robert-Schumann-Philharmonie under avid Schumann explorer and enthusiast Frank Beermann.

For this unique collection, Frank Beermann engaged in a renewed reading of the scores using an edition by Joachim Draheim. His aim was to produce an authentic recording; conducting the score just as Schumann had written it down and not having an interpretive opinion.

Robert Schumann the symphonist still stands in the shadow of Schumann the composer for piano and voice (the fate of Schumann the opera composer is no different). The idea that an orchestra with a great tradition of performing the Romantic repertoire should have good reason to play Schumann’s orchestral works gladly and regularly – even offering cycles of them – is something that the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and its chief conductor Fabio Luisi have put into practice, to their credit. The conductor and his orchestra meet all the orchestral challenges that Schumann places before them. They play with the greatest of technical subtlety and beauty of tone, from the spirited First, the 'Spring' Symphony, via the muted atmosphere of the Second, then the Third, 'Rhenish', with its rich palette of moods and impressions, to the fantasy of the Fourth Schumann’s art of climax and the conclusive manner of his repetitions are here heard just as clearly as are his deft combinations of Romantic colours and shadings. Thus the fourth movement of the Rhenish is accorded the sacred tone that is appropriate to it, just as the 'Romanze' in the Fourth Symphony is played as if it were a lover’s serenade. Fabio Luisi furthermore masters the tempo shifts and capricious quirks in Schumann’s fast movements. Here, the Vienna Symphonic plays with dizzying brilliance – and all is achieved 'live', without the safety net of the studio.

To complement the symphonies, the present recording also includes the Konzertstück for 4 Horns Op. 86, a powerful, vital work that stands in close proximity to the 'Rhenish', and which was composed during one of Schumann’s most productive periods. Schumann utilises the form of the Konzertstück to explore those spaces between the 'competitive' aspect inherent in a concertante work and the ensemble aspect of soloists and orchestra playing together as a symphonic ensemble. At the same time, the composer explores the possibilities of the modern valve instruments that themselves present further technical subtleties (and hurdles too). This work was long regarded as near-unplayable, but it is a matter of course that the horn players of the Vienna Symphony here play it with complete, sovereign command.

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

Recorded in 2008/9, these works are conducted by Grzegorz Nowak, the Principal Associate Conductor of the RPO

These recordings, previously published separately, are now available together in a boxed set.