Search - Franz Schubert, Günter Wand, Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra :: Franz Schubert: Symphonies Nos. 1-9 / Rosamunde (Günter Wand Edition)

Wand hits a high point in the Eighties, despite some ordinar

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 06/07/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It might seem pointless to review a box set of Schubert's symphonies selling for $150 on the used market, but since all of these readings can be downloaded at other music sites, I thought a somewhat detailed review would be helpful. Wand turns out to have something to say here, and his cologne Radio SO, if not first-rate, is certainly up to Schubert's symphonic writing, which is rarely challenging (only the finale of Sym. 9 comes to mind as truly difficult, and then only for the scurrying violin line). RCA's sound s good, too -- they are licensed from Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, who recorded the cycle in the Eighties. Since Wand seems to have been at his freshest before he hit the big time in Berlin and around the world, I found myself intrigued.



Sym. 1 -- We are off to an encouraging start with a vivacious first movement that communicates joy. Unlike Karajan and Bohm, both with the Berlin Phil., the music isn't inflated beyond its modest goals. the slow movement sings and moves at a true ambling Andante. The Minuet is vigorous and not at all heavy-footed. The finale's Allegro vivace is a trifle subdued and Haydnesque, but what's not to love? This is a reading that smiles throughout.



Sym. 2 - Schubert was 16 when he wrote his first symphony; its successor appeared between the ages of 17 and 18. It sounds more "schubrtian," the idiom carrying his special ebullience and vibrancy, even though the orchestration and harmony aren't really much changed. Wand begins with a rousing first movement that captures the music's high spirits quite beautifully. As before, the Andante moves at a nice amble without the slightest pretension. Wand finds a bit more Sturm und Drang in the Minuet than most; it's invigorating. The finale isn't a real Presto, but perhaps the conductor wanted to go easy on the violins, who aren't really fine. Overall, however, this is a fresh account that exudes charm.



Sym. 3 - High praise has gone to two accounts that differ extremely: Carlos Kleiber's fierce, at times driven performance on DG and Beecham's suave, genial, rather relaxed one on EMI. The work was written in seven weeks immediately after Schubert's eighteenth birthday. In the opening movement Wand stumbles a bit with a reading that's too low-key to be either fish or fowl. Schubert calls for the Adagio opening to be "maestoso" and the Allegro to be "con brio," but Wand is merely straightforward. the next movement, marked Allegretto, is taken too briskly; it feels like a throwaway. The Minuet dances nicely, however, and never lands too hard. The finale, marked Presto vivace, is a whirlwind under other conductors, a Catherine's wheel throwing off dizzy intoxication, but Wand is rather too slow and prosaic.



Sym. 4 - We leap ahead over 200 catalog numbers to reach this work, yet it appeared only a year after the Third; Schubert was nineteen. I've never understood its sobriquet as the "Tragic," despite being in C minor (like the Brahms first). For decades Schubert was regualarly represented in concert only by Sym. 5, 8, and 9, but recently I've come across a number of concerts where the Fourth is given its due as a big work, full of potential importance. Wand is not quite of that school, as he shows by rushing through the opening Adagio without evoking much mystery or anticipation. He tames the following Allegro, with little regard for its tempestuousness. The second movement is tricky, with a theme of lovely pathos that can wear out its welcome after too much repetition without variation. Wand strikes a nice balance, moving the line along but allowing the expressive contour to emerge. The vigorous third movement is called a Minuet but feels like a Beethoven Scherzo. Wand splits the difference in a reading of medium forcefulness. the finale can be played with a sense of onrushing exuberance; Wand prefers to be sprightly and moderate.



Sym. 5 -- Here Wand enters the Schubert mainstream, where for decades we've enjoyed readings from every major conductor. I didn't expect an exceptional reading here, but Wand turns out to be to the manner born. He's more relaxed than urgent, but that's always been one of the alternatives in this work (I prefer urgency, which makes the music more like great young Mendelssohn in his Midsummer's Night Dream mode). Oddly, Wand shows the most vigor in the Minuet, a high point of his reading, but the finale bustles along nicely as well.



Sym. 6 - No one seems to have picked up on Beecham's enthusiasm for this work, which can be approached with Mozartean elegance like the Fifth or pushed into a larger realm, like its cousin in C major, the "Great" Ninth. Wand takes the work as a sunny child of Haydn. This results in a rather tame first movement, although its nicely balanced. One longs for events to be more strongly contrasted. The Andante is songful but a bit flavorless. The third movement, however, really comes to life as a true Beethovenian Scherzo. We are almost in the world of the Beethoven Fourth, which bows to classicism without losing its new identity. The finale is almost pure Haydn, however, and Wand takes it that way. He's just a whisker shy of the proper witty ebullience. The second subject jumps into the world of mature Schubert and is beautifully sung here.



Sym. 8 - So far, Wand has been quite strong in Sym. 1, 2, 5, and 6. Is that enough to satisfy? In my experience, it's too much to ask a complete Schubert cycle to contain great readings of the "Unfinished" or the Ninth. The competition form the most eminent conductors on records is too strong. Wand falls considerably too far short, with an "unfinished" that's completely generic. It's not so impersonal that you stop paying attention altogether, but it comes close. How strange that this masterpiece stirs so little in him. Maybe he was reticent out of respect.



Sym. 9 - My argument against Wand's so-called greatness is that reviewers, especially in Britain, extol the ordinary over the extraordinary. This Ninth is a case in point -- it's a high quality version of the ordinary. the playing is attentive and straightforward, wit none of the solos winds sounding very involved. The Andante moves forward with a nice gait, but Wand doesn't find much variety in its episodes -- admittedly, the contrasts tend to be mild anyway. The Scherzo is vigorous but not very forceful; it's stylish enough that I would rate it the best movement under Wand. The scurrying violins that open the finale are rather blurry here, and Wand doesn't make a great deal of the long crescendo. This is another moderate but attractive rendition, like the performance as a whole. Nothing to complain about but nothing to rejoice over, either.



Overall, I think Wand reaches some real high points in his accounts of Sym. 1, 2, 5, and 6 -- I'd put his versions against Bohm, Davis, and Karajan and expect a close race. He's a bit too low-key in Sym. 3 and 4, but those performances are creditable. The "Unfinished" is generic, the "Ninth" a good, sometimes vigorous reading that can hold its head up.

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