Also available: Schumann-Mahler: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4 / Alsop, ORF Vienna RSO

Robert Schumann’s works lie at the center of German Romanticism, with an essentially lyrical style that reflects his quintessential place among the great German composers. From 1840 Schumann switched from writing, primarily, piano music and Lieder, to writing orchestral music, with the joyful First Symphony written in just four days, and the uplifting tone of the Second Symphony a remarkable triumph over depression and illness. But the effectiveness of Schumann’s orchestration in his symphonies has been the cause of much debate. Gustav Mahler’s re-orchestrations from the early1900s provide models of tasteful modification that are suited to the larger orchestras of today.

Learn more about this release in this Naxos Classical Spotlight podcast episode!

REVIEWS:

Mahler, king of the large orchestra, actually lightened Schumann’s textures in these arrangements. The results, when played with such passion and precision as here, are hugely rewarding.

-- BBC Music

Both works on this program benefit from unusually fine accounts by Marin Alsop and the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. For my money these really committed performances are of even greater significance than are the Mahler re-orchestrations.

-- Audio-Video Club of Atlanta

Marin Alsop may have done real credit to this revision, as she gives them the greatest attention and makes her orchestra sound appropriately powerful and grandiose.

-- Pizzicato