Composer: Robert Schumann
Orchestra: San Francisco Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Michael Tilson Thomas
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: SFS Media
Catalogue: SFS0071
Release: 2017
Size: 5.44 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
Symphony No. 1 in B flat major, Op. 38 ‘Spring’
01. I. Andante un poco maestoso – Allegro molto vivace
02. II. Larghetto
03. III. Scherzo (Molto vivace)
04. IV. Allegro animato e grazioso
Symphony No. 2 in C major, Op. 61
05. I. Sostenuto assai – Allegro ma non troppo
06. II. Scherzo (Allegro vivace)
07. III. Adagio espressivo
08. IV. Allegro molto vivace
Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 97 ‘Rhenish’
09. I. Lebhaft
10. II. Scherzo (Sehr mässig)
11. III. Nicht schnell
12. IV. Feierlich
13. V. Lebhaft
Symphony No. 4 in D minor, Op. 120
14. I. Ziemlich langsam – Lebhaft
15. II. Romance (Ziemlich langsam)
16. III. Scherzo (Lebhaft)
17. IV. Langsam – Lebhaft
The Grammy Award-winning team of Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony releases a premium edition two-disc recording of the complete symphonies of Robert Schumann, one of the most evocative composers of the Romantic era.
Michael Tilson Thomas’ nuanced approach accentuates the tender, simple, and vulnerable side of Schumann’s symphonies, which MTT calls a “preserve for endangered emotions.” Recorded live, these performances of Schumann’s symphonies are hailed as “nothing short of magnificent” by the San Francisco Chronicle. Produced by the Symphony’s in-house record label SFS Media in the highest quality audio.
With neither an orchestra nor a conductor particularly known for mainstream Romantic repertory, the four symphonies of Robert Schumann might seem an odd choice for the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra’s house label; house labels tend toward warhorses, and the Schumann symphonies have never quite been those. As it happens, this is a very strong set, made of live recordings whose vigorous final applause attests to the degree to which Tilson Thomas’ broad, sweeping readings connected with SFSO audiences. The orchestra’s string section does notable work here in the long Motorik passages that have defeated many a lesser ensemble; for listeners of a certain age, these recordings may bring to mind the Schumann symphonies of George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra years ago. Tilson Thomas’s precision, too, and the balance he catches in the movements’ harmonic development bring Szell to mind. His textures give the lie to the perception that Schumann’s orchestration in these works was unimaginative; subtle woodwind shades in the fields of strings are everywhere in these readings. There are many places you might begin sampling, but one is the extremely punchy Scherzo of the Symphony No. 2 in C major, Op. 61. This is an excellent accomplishment for Tilson Thomas as he nears the end of his San Francisco tenure.