The second album in Sir John Eliot Gardiner's Schumann series with the London Symphony Orchestra travels from glorious fanfare to dream-like passages with the lively Spring and Rhenish symphonies.
From the dramatic first trumpet-call which awakens the frozen landscape, the First Symphony is a celebration of spring. It moves through the season and a gruff folk-song Scherzo until finally a jubilant conclusion dances into summer.
Desperate, heartfelt and elegant, the Manfred Overture opens with an urgent impetus that only increases through the work, displaying the intense strife which lies ahead for its protagonist.
Schumann’s Third is one of the composer’s most impressive, painting a euphoric picture of the German Rhineland in broad Beethovenian style and closing with an exhilarating finale.
Composer Robert Schumann Conductor Sir John Eliot Gardiner Performers London Symphony Orchestra
Symphony 1 in B-Flat Major, Op. 38, "Spring Symphony"
1. Andante un poco maestoso - Allegro molto vivace
2. Larghetto
3. Scherzo: Molto vivace - Trio I: Molto piu vivace - Trio II - Coda: Come sopra ma un poco più lento - Quasi presto - Meno presto
4. Allegro animato e grazioso
5. Manfred, Op. 115: Overture
Symphony 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 97, "Rhenish Symphony"
6. Lebhaft
7. Scherzo: Sehr mäßig
8. Nicht schnell
9. Feierlich
10. Lebhaft
Release Date 7 February 2020
LSO0844 | 822231184423
Producer Nicholas Parker EngineersClassic Sound Ltd Recorded February 2019, Barbican, London
FLAC - 24bit 96kHz - Compatible with Windows and Android devices MP3 - 320kbps - Universal compatibility SACD - Compatible with all CD players
Available on streaming services
Reviews
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'I would suggest that this new performance is easily worth a double-dip: not only do you get the Manfred Overture but these new accounts of the symphonies bring a bloom and vitality that is quite irresistible, and a pleasure to hear.'
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‘Together they produce an album brimming with rich recordings of Schumann’s optimistic first symphony, a celebration of spring, and his third symphony, which was inspired by the Rhineland after the composer visited with his wife Clara.’
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‘With these bracing, tautly argued and exhilarating accounts of the Spring and Rhenish symphonies, Gardiner confounds the “dreary cliché that [Schumann] couldn’t orchestrate”. He brings the values of his period- instrument performances to both works and to the grandiose Manfred Overture…. The LSO players respond with verve and elan to his impulsive baton.’
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