Search - Franz Schubert, Claudio Abbado, Chamber Orchestra of Europe :: Schubert: Symphonies 5 & 6

Schubert, Abbado, And The Chamber Orchestra Of Europe

Erik North | San Gabriel, CA USA | 01/16/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"We owe a large debt of gratitude to a pair of Brits named Sir George Grove and Sir Arthur Sullivan in having resurrected Franz Schubert's symphonic works from obscurity; for even though many of them didn't become even a small part of the concert repertoire until the 1970s, had it not been for those two men and their efforts, Schubert might be known for nothing else but an impressive body of songs. As it is, because of them, Schubert is considered as significant as his Viennese predecessors Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven in the symphonic arena.



His Fifth and Sixth symphonies, composed, respectively, in 1816 and 1817, are the height of his youthful symphonic output, and yet they also show that he had gained originality by absorbing what he had learned from his illustrious forebears, and thus coming up with his own distinctive sound. The Fifth is a light work, much influenced by Mozart's 40th Symphony and the tranquil parts of Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony (it contains no trumpets or timpani, and is even absent of clarinets in its scoring); while the Sixth, the so-called "Little C Major", evidences a somewhat more muscular approach, with a Beethoven-like Scherzo in the third movement and musical accents redolent of Rossini.



Both works are given fine renditions, in recordings made in Vienna in December 1986 (for No. 5) and May 1987 (for No. 6), by the Chamber Orchestra of Europe under Claudio Abbado. Eschewing the sternness that seems to come from so many mid-European performances of these works, and the strict adherence to tempo markings that seem to be hallmarks of so many period-instrument ensembles, Abbado instead opts for a balance that is more in keeping in line with the spirit of the works; and the C.O.E. is among the best in the world at performances of this kind, especially in navigating through the sudden Beethovenian jolts of the scherzo in the Sixth. A very fine recording to have in one's collection."