STILL LOVELY AND LIGHT
GEORGE RANNIE | DENVER, COLORADO United States | 01/22/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Until this recording with the Stuttgard Radio Symphony Orchestra led by Roger Norrington, I really did not have too much of an appreciation for Robert Schumann's Symphony #2 in C major finding it rather dense and, to me, cumbersome. This recording conducted by Roger Norrington has changed my opinion of the work. Schumann's Symphony #2 in C major, on this recording, sounds, to me, so fresh and light; I loved it! It's as if I was hearing it for the very first time--it has, almost, an effervescent quality about it. As I stated in my review of these same forces in Schumann's Symphony #1&3, 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 Schumann's symphonies. There is so much musical fresh air to be heard in these recording with them, to me, sounding closer to Mendelssohn than any other composer.
If you want to hear these "Symphonic Standards" in a "bright new light" buy this disc.
Schumann's 4th Symphony in D minor on this recording is wonderful too--very spirited and not as dense as I have previously heard. There is also a very informative commentary regarding these two symphonies by Roger Norrington on two tracts of this recording (in English, by the way). The recorded sound is also great--rich and warm!
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