LIGHTNESS
GEORGE RANNIE | DENVER, COLORADO United States | 06/13/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Schumann's 1st (Spring) and 3rd(Rhenish) have been part of my musical listening for many years (both recorded and live performances). I, however, have always had the impression that the works were rather dense and kind of heavy. I attributed the aforesaid impression to what musical critics have said that Schumann was not a great orchestratetor. Listening to this live recording of a reduced in size and vibrato less Stuttgard Radio Symphony Orchestra led by Roger Norrington has made me truly reevaluate these two symphonies. The playing is crisp and light sounding closer to Mendelssohn (an early contemporary of Schumann) than to Mahler as they have previously sounded to me. The fast movements are delivered with a wonderful briskness and the slow movements' melodies soar and are very beautiful indeed. My feeling is that Schumann was a far better orchestrator than he is normally given credit for. That is evident in this recording which tries to recreate the sound of the orchestra that Schumann no doubt heard
If you want to hear Schumann's Spring and Rhenish symphonies in a new and wonderful "light", buy this disc. I loved it!
"