Search - Robert Schumann, George Szell, Cleveland Orchestra :: Schumann: Symphonies 1-4; Manfred Overture

More a warning than a review

Wayne A. | Belfast, Northern Ireland | 02/25/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Fantastic set, one of my favorite of a huge pile--the one I seem to go back to most frequently.



If you buy this and the CDs are in non-removable cardboard sleeves inside the packaging (they should be), CAREFULLY take the discs out and put them in jewel cases for the remainder of their (or your) lives. The idiotically designed packaging actually scratches up the discs--primarily the second one (the glued inside (!!) seam rubs up against the surface). I'm meticulous with my CD handling and discovered, to my horror, that this has happened with nearly every set I own in this series!



I've encountered worse elsewhere--trendy avant-garde labels are the worst, they might as well package CDs in sandpaper or include a crowbar [If the moron who designed the breathtakingly idiotic packaging for the KAIROS Morton Feldman disc ever reads this, be warned, I will track you down someday and ruin your career as a designer]; it's amazing that at this late date in the evolution of the CD packaging designers still haven't developed the right sensitivities or simply yielded wholly to the imperfect but better-than-anything-else stock jewel box. Why that ingenius package that would actually automatically lift and free the disc when opened never caught on (despite the added 10 cent per unit cost, that I, for one, would gladly have absorbed) is anybody's guess.



[Post note: Amazing, I publish this solely to cue people that there's a problem with the packaging on this and I get a "not helpful" vote! What a putz!]"

Magical and swinging music lines

Blygman | Paris, France | 04/13/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I had the Sony Classical Kubelik's version on K7. I decided to compare the versions recommended by Grammophone, Penguin & NPR to decide which one I would buy on CD.At my surprise, I found Kubelik's version bland compared to others.To my ears, Gardiner is too much rushing the score and the orchestra with periodic instruments sounds too thin and bright. At first, I liked it but then realized I was not really engrossed as I like it. Not surprising, as contrary to many people, I do not really go for his archetyped systematic way of playing music esp. romantic music (IMHO).Then Bernstein's is joyful, full of go but sometimes desarticulated (1st symphony), impressive though. And finally, Szell's is the one that sings & swings to me even during quiet movements it still gives me the goosebumps. I feel drawn into the music. The only drawback is the sound quality, the sound can seem a little muffled compared to other versions."

Armchair or Open Windows

R. C. Ross | Birmingham | 10/25/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Brian Knox (review entered below) makes some interesting points about these famed recordings. Szell has a great (and altogether deserved) reputation as a conductor of classical directness and integrity. But - and there is a but with these great recordings - these recordings are not altogether as satisfying as their almost legendary reputation might suggest. There is an unexpected 'plushiness' to Szell's balances that mutes and dulls the edge of these genuinely exciting symphonies. There is just a little too much of the armchair and too little of the open-window.



This is a consequence of Szell's (wholly legitimate) view of these symphonies and their sound-world, of his revisions to the scores and of the recorded balances. Christoph von Dohnanyi (still with the great Cleveland Orchestra) lets far more sunlight and fresh-air onto the scene. So too does Klemperer - a fantastic but rare set (marred a little by his ponderous view of the 2nd symphony). David Zinman with the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich is bright, buoyant and wonderfully alive (an outstanding version of the 2nd symphony).



But the real point is that these symphonies are superb works and any of these sets would provide much enjoyment.

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