Search - Franz [Vienna] Schubert, Herbert Blomstedt, Dresden Staatskapelle :: Franz Schubert: Symphony No. 9

Schubert and Blomstedt: Like Minds

Grady Harp | Los Angeles, CA United States | 10/21/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Franz Schubert's Symphony No. 9 in C major, known as The Great, has as colorful a history as the work itself. Written from 1925 to 1926 (as opposed to the previously thought period of his last days) it is a long (50 minute) work for the master and quite opposite form the morose later works is a symphony filled with light and buoyancy, a celebratory work that drives ever onward with the same kind of delineation Schubert garnered on his songs/lieder being written simulataneously. It was not performed until 1839, eleven years after the composer's too early demise at the age of 31, and the first performances included mistakes in the scoring not corrected for more than a half century. But the work was worth the wait: the Great symphony is truly well named, as it is one of the most magnificent of Schubert's instrumental creations.



Herbert Blomstedt, a conductor of the old school tradition (read Bruno Walter, Otto Klemperer, Wilhelm Furtwangler, etc), is fully in control of this large canvas. The recording with the Dresden Staatskapelle is first rate both in performance and in sound reproduction. The strings choirs are luminous and the all-important trombones and other brass portions are played with finesse. This is not just a happy accident recording: Blomstedt has just conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic in this mighty symphony, completely from memory, and wholly immersed in not only the large architectural aspects of the piece but also in the spirit of the Schubertian melodic development. This is as fine a recording of the Schubert No. 9 as is available and one that will please even the most exacting connoisseurs. Highly recommended. Grady Harp, October, 06

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Unquestionably One of the Great Recordings of Schubert's 9th

John Kwok | New York, NY USA | 08/10/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Without a doubt, Blomstedt's reading of Schubert's 9th (7th or 8th - in some circles) is among the most electrifying I've heard. It is certainly the most brisk, yet his tempi don't sound rushed at all. The Dresden Staatskapelle's performance is exceptional; replete with a very warm, ambient sound. Most noteworthy are the excellent performances of the wind and string sections, but the others sound just as fine. Berlin Classics' recording is comparable in sound quality to what you'd expect from 1980s Deutsche Grammophon and Philips recordings; superb to put it succinctly."