Search - Franz [Vienna] Schubert, Neeme Järvi, Stockholm Sinfonietta :: Schubert: Symphonies 3 & 4 / Italian Overture

Sparkling, vivacoius readings, full of brio

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 06/22/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If I hadn't heard this CD, the last conductor I would have bet on in Schubert is Neeme Jarvi, whose bluff, often rough-edged interprettions rarely appeal to me. Here he goes up against better conductors (Beecham, Kleiber, Harnoncourt, Colin Davis, Igor Markevitch, etc.) and more renowned orchestras thaan the Stockholm Phil. Don't expect the Concertgebouw's golden sonority, but in every other respect this is a unique CD, full of vivacity and high spirits.



Tempos are light and quick. Jarvi's Schubert doesn't have Beethovenian ambitions the way Harnoncourt's does. Nor is he relaxed and genial in the mode of Beecham. Something else is happening, Schubert filtered through A Midsummer Night's Dream, and I must say, as fairy music goes, this is inspired. The outer movements of both Sym. #3 and #4 are fleet enough to mistake for Mendelssohn in their unbuttoned brio. Highly recommended."