ROBERT SCHUMANN (1810-1856)

Symphony No. 1 & Overtures

 

Symphony No. 1 in B flat major, Op. 38 (‘Spring Symphony’)

Overture to Schiller’s ‘Braut von Messina’, Op. 100

Overture to the opera ‘Genoveva’, Op. 81

Symphony in G minor, ‘Zwickau Symphony’ (1832–33)

Overture, Scherzo and Finale, Op. 52

 

Swedish Chamber Orchestra / Thomas Dausgaard

 

The present disc is part of a recording project entitled Opening Doors, in which Thomas Dausgaard and the 38 players of the Swedish Chamber Orchestra together explore the Romantic symphonic repertoire. This project will include a complete Schumann Symphony cycle, of which this disc forms part.

 

This disc includes Schumann’s very first endeavours in the symphonic genre, beginning with the Zwickau Symphony from 1832-33. Of the two completed movements, only the first was ever performed in the composer’s lifetime. That is also the one recorded here, performed from a copy of the manuscript score.

 

The programme is completed by two overtures: one composed for Genoveva (Schumann’s only opera) and the other for Schiller’s tragedy The Bride of Messina.

 

The first volume – which included the original version of Symphony No. 4 – was greeted with acclaim by the critics, receiving special recommendations from BBC Music Magazine and The Sunday Times which deemed the playing to be “first-rate” with “a real feeling for the emotional extremes that are at the heart of Schumann’s art.”

 

BIS SACD BISSACD1569