COMPOSERS: Schubert
LABELS: Sony
WORKS: Symphony No. 9; Rosamunde Overture
PERFORMER: Berlin PO/Daniel Barenboim
CATALOGUE NO: SMK 60127
Mendelssohn – who conducted the premiere of Schubert’s ‘Great’ C major Symphony at the Leipzig Gewandhaus in 1839 – strongly advised against repeating the first part of the finale. Barenboim here includes all repeats in a reading evidently intended to underline the score’s ‘heavenly length’. But, despite the Berlin Philharmonic’s polished playing, sluggish tempi in the first three movements and a breathlessly rushed pace in the finale produce a disappointing result. A similar heaviness – emphasised by thick recorded sound – impairs the Rosamunde Overture. Nicholas Rast
Schubert: Symphony No. 9; Rosamunde Overture
Mendelssohn – who conducted the premiere of Schubert’s ‘Great’ C major Symphony at the Leipzig Gewandhaus in 1839 – strongly advised against repeating the first part of the finale. Barenboim here includes all repeats in a reading evidently intended to underline the score’s ‘heavenly length’. But, despite the Berlin Philharmonic’s polished playing, sluggish tempi in the first three movements and a breathlessly rushed pace in the finale produce a disappointing result. A similar heaviness – emphasised by thick recorded sound – impairs the Rosamunde Overture. Nicholas Rast
Our rating
2
Published: January 20, 2012 at 2:28 pm