Search - Schubert, Mackerras :: Symphonies 5 & 8 / Rosamunde

The "Unfinished" completed by B. Newbould

Leslie Richford | Selsingen, Lower Saxony | 01/30/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Schubert?s ?Unfinished? on period instruments promises to be a treat, especially with the high-profile team on this disc, the famous Australian conductor Sir Charles Mackerras and the equally well-known British historical-performance ensemble Orchestra of the Age of the Enlightenment. Where opinions will differ is as to the idea of completing the symphony. Brian Newbould, who also authored the notes to this recording, has undertaken the ?audacious? task (that is his own word), using a manuscript sketch that has been found among Schubert?s belongings for the beginning of the third movement, but daring to compose the second half of the trio ?from scratch?, so to speak, although being careful to refer to Schubert?s first half. And for the last movement, Newbould has taken up Henry Grove?s suggestion that the Entr?acte music for ?Rosamunde? was, in fact, originally Schubert?s idea for the conclusion of the symphony, in which case one can assume, either that Schubert was dissatisfied with it and re-cycled his material, or that Schubert needed music for ?Rosamunde? in such a hurry that he ?stole? his own finale, which he had been waiting to orchestrate until the third movement was ready (which was never to happen). But whatever one thinks about this, a modern CD player does allow one to listen selectively, so if you don?t like the Newbould version, just programme your player with the first two movements, which are pure Schubert, and then listen to both parts of Rosamunde as a separate work.



The disc also contains Schubert?s Symphony No. 5, a work that is eminently cheerful and reminds one constantly of Haydn and Mozart with perhaps a slight dash of very early Beethoven. ? The playing and recording (made at London?s Abbey Road studios in 1990) is impeccable and deserves highest marks, a real pleasure for the ears.

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