Search - Schumann, Welser-Most :: Symphonies 2 & 3

A gentler side of romanticism

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 12/13/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I don't know who set the prevailing style for conducting Schumann's symphonies, but they always seem to charge out of the gate with galloping fervor, the ostinato accompaniment in the cellos chugging away, and sweeping grandly forward in every movement. Eschewing propulsion, Welser-Most feels another side of romanticism, more songful, dreamy, and gentle. Schumann's view of himself comprised both aspects, so it's lovely to hear the Second and Third Sym. approached more in the style of Schubert than Beethoven.



Critics in the U.K. didn't agree when this CD was released in 1992 during W-M's troubled tenure with the London Phil. But if you have room in your soul for Eusebius and Florestan, these performances may catch your imaginaiton as they did mine. Despite the convincing way W-M shapes phrases, I'm reserving the last star in case he produces a future Schumann recording that is both heroic and elegaic. He's grown a lot in the last decade."