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Reviving Schubert's Symphonic Output

Erik North | San Gabriel, CA USA | 03/04/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It's not surprising that, for a very long time, Franz Schubert was largely known for his hundreds of songs, including the much-beloved "Ave Maria." And if the subject turned to his orchestral works, the only three that were really performed with any frequency were his Fifth, Eighth, and Ninth symphonies; other excursions by Schubert into this realm were never heard.



But one of the things that helped rectify this situation was conductor Karl Bohm's recordings of the Schubert symphonies with the Berlin Philharmonic for Deutsche Grammophon between 1963 and 1971, which this individual CD is part of. It was one of the turning points by which the earlier symphonies of this Viennese great who walked in the footsteps of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven started showing up more often in concert in the early 1970s. It was a revival that didn't get nearly as much press attention as the Mahler revival of the previous decade.



This particular recording was made by Bohm and the Berlin Philharmonic in May 1971, and consists of the first two symphonies, both composed by Schubert in 1813 and 1814 when he was a teen and he absorbed what he knew from his illustrious predecessors. Both Bohm and the world-reknowned Berliners do a fine job on both symphonies, though the conductor's handling of the Minuet of the First Symphony can be judged as being too slow (Karajan and Barenboim, also with the Berlin Philharmonic, do exactly the same thing in their individual interpretations of this same movement as well). The added bonus is a fine recording of the celebrated "Magic Harp Overture" that ended up also being the introductory music to "Rosamunde" in 1823 (and to add further intrigue, some of the material of this 10-minute piece is derived from the composer's D Major "Overture In The Italian Style").



Although slightly imperfect, and showing some slight age in comparison to later Schubert symphonic recordings, this recording is important in at least giving the listener the sense that Schubert was every bit as important a composer as his great predecessors. And it certainly helped ensure a greater prominence for his symphonies in concert halls throughout the world."