Greg Bright wrote:
>I have not noticed any mention of the Harnoncourt interpretations in this
>discussion. I obtained the 3rd and 4th on clearance from Columbia House.
>I've not made any comparisons on the 3rd; but the 4th, using the original
>1841 version, sounds pretty anemic compared to my Szell LP. I realize that
>the Chamber Orchestra of Europe issn't the Cleveland, but the excitement
>just isn't there. Is anyone else familiar with this performance?
Harnoncourt's version of the original 1841 Schumann 4th is indeed
anemic (and I work in a Hematology lab, so I know!). This was a big
disappointment to me, as I'd never heard the early version before.
Especially awful is the slow introduction to the final movement. After a
lame, vain attempt to generate excitement, despite Schumann's best efforts
with trumpet calls, rushing strings etc, the whole thing just hits a brick
wall, then limps its way into the main tune, although the pace does pick
up a bit later. The horn fanfare at what I think of as the climax of the
movement is laughable - the orchestra sounds like they're playing toy
instruments.
Infinitely more full-blooded is Sir John Eliot Gardiner's 1841 version with
the Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique. The build-up to the finale is
electrifying, and shows off Schumann's flair (yes, flair) for orchestration
to great advantage. In fact, this passage was severely diminished in the
1851 revised (not always improved) version. Nevertheless, JEG and the ORR
play the later version superbly, too. BTW, their performances of the other
Schumann symphonies and especially of the Concertpiece for Four Horns are
also brilliant - I have at last been converted to the 2nd Sym - it was
always my one blind spot.
In case anyone's interested, these are my other recordings of the 1851
Schumann 4th, in approximate order of preference:
New Philharmonia Orchestra - Eliahu Inbal
The Cleveland Orchestra - George Szell
Suisse Romande Orchestra - Armin Jordan
Dresden Staatskapelle - Wolfgang Sawallisch
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra - Leonard Bernstein
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra - Rafael Kubelik
New Philharmonia Orchestra - Riccardo Muti
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra - Bernard Haitink
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra - Aldo Ceccato (re-orch by Mahler)
Emerging from the long era of lurkdom,
Cathy Guerney
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