Review: Paavo Järvi's Powerful Schmidt Symphonies
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 มี.ค. 2021
- There haven't been many complete recordings of the Franz Schmidt symphonies, which you might call the true "last gasp" of nineteenth-century symphonic music. This is certainly the finest of them so far, although there are excellent versions of some of the individual works--mentioned in the video. Still, you should try to get this set while it's still available.
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I was waiting for this one! I still hadn’t completely made up my mind to listen these symphonies; despite Jaarvi’s purportedly compelling account of these works, I wasn’t sure the works themselves were compelling enough to bother. I’m sold now and will work these into my playlist.
Fabio Luisi is a big fan of Schmidt and programmed The Book of Seven Seals for his debut season here at the Dallas Symphony. Unfortunately the performance was scheduled for...April 2020.
Appropriately apocalyptic.
I like the Franz Welser Möst recording of the 4th symphony.
Can’t wait for the Das Buch mit Sieben Siegeln talk. It’d be great if 1 in 5 of the worldwide performances of Mahler 8 were swapped out for Das Buch. Similar forces, WAY more interesting dramatically. BRING ON DAS BUCH!!!
The Paavo Järvi recording was a birthday present by my daughter in december. Now the old Rajter recording is ready for my non existing overflow room. I bought the Mehta recording, because you mentioned it last year. And I have the Chesky CD. For me, that is enough Schmidt (his symphonies).
This video came at a literally perfect time because I was looking for a cycle and didn't know who to listen to. Thanks~
I love Schmidt and Paavo's cycle contains some of the best music he has performed in a long time. I agree, his interpretation of the 1st symphony is probably the best out there. One disappointment, there was scope to slot some incidental music in there as fillers. One piece of music is the Chaconne. A real favourite of mine.
And the work uses 3 tam-tams, not that you ever actually hear them.
The organ version of the Chaconne, or a bit of it anyway, was my introduction to Schmidt back in the early 1960s via a track on Vanguard's “Stereolab” demonstration/test record. -Paul Penna
I enjoy Rumpf's recording of the Chaconne on Capriccio, but haven't heard the Naxos to compare.
Hello again Mr Hurwitz. I'm sure that you are aware about the Schmidt Symphony Cycle with Fabio Luisi. Nos 1, 2 and 4 are, in my opinion, a catastrophe. But the Third?! What happened with the Third? The Third Symphony with Luisi is a miracle. He stays back, he doesn't make his usual mannerisms and he lets the music speak for itself. His tempi are wonderful. Please listen again to that recording, listen the otherworldly choral at the beginning of the 4th movement, the mesmerising beautiful 2nd movement etc. If you like it, it would be such a pleasure to see you talking about the musical qualities of the performance but of the music as well. Keep the nice work. Greetings.
I love all these symphonies and have both Paavo's and Neemi's cycles. For the fourth I also have the Welser-Möst and - my favourite - the Zubin Mehta
I'm finally getting around to watching this episode. In 2013 I led the first-ever performance of the Schmidt 1st Symphony in the Chicago area and, believe me, everyone LOVED it. Interesting, though that the Chicago Sym, for all its Mahler/Bruckner/Strauss expertise, had never done it. But the 1st is one of the most joyous, "healthy" and overall splendid works I know. Great melodies throughout; the delights never seem to stop coming.
Paavo's performance is very lyrical and warm, down to the big chorale in the finale, which is smoother and more laid-back than I've ever heard it.
BTW, you're spot-on about the VPO/Mehta Schmidt 4th; for me, no one else (including Jarvi pere and fils) comes close to matching its spiritual, otherworldly qualities. It's not just another lush, late-romantic gusher. It's unique, one of the true symphonic masterpieces of the 20th Century. LR
Schmidt seems to be a family favorite: Neeme's other son Kristjan recorded Das Buch on Chandos. Love the gorilla!
I've dabbled in Schmidt, but this talk prompted me to check out his biography, where I learned that he wrote two quintets for the quixotic combination of clarinet, string trio, and piano left hand. I found a wonderful recording on the Centaur label of the second quintet, in A, written just before his death in 1939. It sounds like the offspring of Brahms and Saint-Saens, in equal doses elegiac and spritely, with harmonic invention and instrumental coloration worthy of those masters. Lasting over an hour, it was unexpectedly captivating, even in the 20+ minute introductory movement.
Those quintets are lovely pieces indeed; they wear their sizable proportions lightly, so to speak. You can find them both on Marco Polo.
Thank you for this glorious review Mr Hurwitz.been after a cycle of Schmidt for ages.I have never heard the first.I have the other Jaarvi 2nd and the Mehta 4th.I have never really liked the 3rd.I have the Pesek recording.which ive been told isnt good anyway!.Hopefully this new boxed set might change my mind.
@David Hurwitz Looking forward to yr vid of Book of the Seven Seals. Enterprising Swiss Bandcamp label, Legendary Archives, has transferred and restored the Patzak/Lippe live recording from Strasbourg Cathedral, 6/1/63. Not to be missed. I do not think it is available anywhere else at present.
I looooove the Second Symphony. It’s one of my favorite symphonies ever. But all the others leave me a bit cold, including the Fourth. That said, I still find Sinaisky cycle the best one, hands down. Paavo’s rendition of the Second is so strange. It’s fast like Neeme’s but full of odd phrasing and not much formal sense - quite a feat in a symphony so clearly structured.
It gives my life meaning to hear a human utter “Schmidt” and “Schmitt” in the same sentence! I look forward to a video on Schmitt. Thanks for doing this Schmidt review... totally worth the video. Was very excited to see this box come out, and yes it is THE cycle. Yes, the 2nd is over the top but it really shows off Schmidt’s skill in orchestration and ability to manipulate themes and motives. I think for this reason it is an extremely valuable piece, and wish more orchestras would be so brave to program it. But I guess it would be box office death! Paavo does a lot to make it linear and tie it all together, vs. Neeme’s more raw recording with CSO. I was excited for the Vienna/Bychkov a few years ago and bought it for myself on my birthday, but was let down - despite the cleanliness, I thought it was like looking at a foggy landscape and there weren’t enough teeth. The 4th is so stunningly beautiful and sincere, really one of a kind. Have you seen the performance on Berlin Phil digital concert hall with Petrenko?
Haven't seen Petrenko yet, but I hope to get to it.
Florent Schmitt is something of a special interest of mine. I wouldn't mind a video about him, but there's no hurry.
@@VoceCorale huge special interest of mine too!!! You must be a fan of Psalm 47 given your handle
Franz Schmidt's 2nd Symphony is probably my favourite late romantic symphony. Endless masterful counterpoint, all clad in a golden shimmer of the most beautiful instrumentation. That HUGE variation making a return in the Finale, superimposed on the theme of the variations plus all the other motifs... -
The 4th sounds actually like Wagner composing a symphony just after Parsifal. The trumpet beginning is a Rienzi reminiscence and the slow movement expanded Amfortas' torment.
Nah.
I love Schmidt, love the symphonies, even the convict-trustie third. I enjoyed this talk. I may feel compelled to augment my shelves with something other than Neeme's cycle which is already there.
Thanks. I was looking for a Schmidt cycle, had my eye on Neemi's, but think I'll go with your recommendation. How about Mitropoulos' 2nd on Music and Arts and his Book with 7 Seals? any good, in your opinion?
David, there is a new cycle of the Schmidt Symphonies on Accentus Music apparently! The first symphony was on BBC radio a few days ago and sounded just magnificent. Berman conducts the BBC Wales (but they sound like a central european orchestra!). There can always be more Schmidt in the world!
p.s. can't wait for your book of the seven seals video.......
Oh dear, another one! I don't see it available as a physical CD, but it's nice to have a singleton version of the First available.
The whole cycle is available on streaming now. It sound noticeably more round and European (but in no way less clear) than Jarvi’s more Angular, “American” and crystalline readings.
IMO, the 4th is unquestionably his greatest symphony, a true masterpiece of cyclic form that never fails to move me greatly. That said, the 2nd symphony is also a major statement which manages to out-Strauss Strauss in its voluptuousness and sheer orchestral virtuosity. The 3rd is a tougher but to crack, being mostly subdued in tone and harmonically unstable. I recall the 1st as being pretty unremarkable, though it’s been a while since I’ve listened. I’m looking forward to your talk on Schmidt’s other great masterpiece, the terrifyingly apocalyptic oratorio “Das Buch mit Sieben Siegeln”!
Btw, I’m hoping to see you cover that other great late-late-late romantic symphonic masterpiece of the Austro-German tradition - Korngold’s Symphony in F-sharp - at some point in the future! Though rarely performed in the concert hall, there are now a number of excellent recordings available and it would be interesting to compare them!
I sort of did, briefly, but maybe it needs more thorough treatment: th-cam.com/video/K0WNTH9Dytk/w-d-xo.html
Hi David,
just found your channel looking for “ best Mahlers 2nd symphony” ,great find. Do you have a video of you talking about the audio equipment you use?
Shalom.
Never! I vowed not to discuss equipment--it's just such a personal thing. But welcome, and I hope you enjoy the discussions about music.
@@DavesClassicalGuide Oh, I was just about to ask the same... luckily I read this comment beforehand!
I saw up on Amazon the Mehta/Vienna Schmidt 4th on a disk coupled with his LA Phil Schoenberg Chamber Symphony No. 1.
That is also a great recording of the Schoenberg.
You've gotta love the humor of the Universe...
I bought the F. Schmidt Symphonies yesterday! by Järvi Senior... Huh.
EDIT: the review by Victor was stupendous! And I really really enojoyed his Sinopoli/Pictures suggestion!
You could do much worse. Enjoy them.
UPDATE: because I’m a contrarian and I love late Romantic works with mammoth orchestras, started with Jarvi’s Schmidt #2. The thing does indeed resemble a panting silverback gorilla. In other words, I love it!
Hello Dave!
As I write today september 4th, the recording is still available!! Now I wonder ,how high do you rate Franz Schmidt? I just saw that you think that VPO's best recording ever is Schmidt's 4th symphony under Mehta. Is it really true?
Best wishes Fred.
One of their best recordings.
There’s a new (relatively new?) Petrenko recording on the Berlin Phil label of the 4th symphony. I searched the classics today archives for a review and didn’t see it reviewed. Have you heard it?
No.
I gather your review for "Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln" hasn't come out yet. I am really eager to learn what you think about the Harnoncourt recording.
It has not, and won't for a while. I have to be in an aptly apocalyptic mood.
@@DavesClassicalGuide just read the news ;)
@@ippolit23 That's not apocalyptic, merely stupid.
a wonderfully "perspicacious" video
Thanks for the talk about another terrible underrated composer, David! I preordered Paavo's cycle last year because I only had heard about Schmidt but not had heard his works. For myself I do like the 1st symphony best even though I can not deny the mastery of the 4th. However after listening to other recordings of the 1st I do prefer Neeme's recording, he has the best brass available, which especially pays of in the 4th movement's coda. In comparison Paavo's brass sounds a bit muffled and mushy in my opinion as well as a bit too quiet, but his cycle is still a great deal!
Just needed to get this off my chest. When and if you review DAS BUCH, please please please do not leave out Harnoncourt; his is my overall favorite, out of the dozen recordings I have. The strings-phrasings in the Alleluia are an absolute knockout that nobody else gets as right. And the eternal gong at the final conclusion leaves me trembling in awe and anticipation like only Kondrashin’s Rachmaninoff ‘Symphonic Dances’ has.
I think I've just decided not to review it. Just kidding. I don't really understand, though, what the point would be when everyone who loves it knows what they love and the rest of the universe doesn't care. I really need to think it over, and It's not going to be a priority, sorry to say. But hopefully I'll get to it.
@@DavesClassicalGuide it ain’t necessarily so! that same theory could be applied to everything you review-that those who already own them will somehow feel vindicated but those who don’t won’t be interested-but it’d be wring. i’ve bought quite a few discs in the past few months from your recommendations, and even from the comments on your videos... that’s how I discovered Schmidt, anyhow, more than a decade ago, “if you like ___ then try ____” and then a trustworthy source will be reverse-engineered for all their own previously-unknown-to-me hidden secrets :)
@@dvdlpznyc Well then, maybe I'll do it sooner. We'll see.
I got the Mehta No. 4 in the big DECCA box, glad I bought that one at the time. I really think it's still one of the more intelligently put-together Big Boxes, pity the majors aren't always that smart...
Yes, it's a great set. Or it was...
For once, I agree with David Hurwitz, which hasn't happened before. I like the Third better than he does, especially its finale, but his assessment of the recordings agrees with mine (all the way back to Rajter's).
My life is now complete!
"...the second Symphony which is one of those big, hairy, sort of gorilla-type, excessive, bloated late-Romantic pieces of schlag"
Wow... that just sounds like the best thing in the world to me!!
But seriously, as I tend to like Schmidt very much, I really need to give his symphonies a listen. He can be powerful, or charming, but always a masterful, learned composer (some would say too much...). Maybe he suffers a bit from a bad reputation.
(And I'd like to join the not inconsiderable ranks of those requesting a video about Das Buch mit Sieben Siegeln, but I realise everyone has a life to live and, for me, there's no hurry - I mean, you can take your time!)
Gee thanks.
Haha, Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln, not Segeln (Siegel = seal; Segel = sail).
Pity that no one seems to know the Fabio Luisi cycle on MDR from 2007-2010, which includes the piano works. His 3rd is easily the best (apart from Rajter's, who slowed the scherzo down to a Brucknerian ländler; sonically it is under par and the orchestra is not the best indeed).
That's what I said. I speak in dialect.
@@DavesClassicalGuide Haha, yeah, sure...
@@hmhparis1904 Lower Thuringian.
Fabio is fabulous! And he also recorded Das Buch, but I don't see it on amazon. You can find it on TH-cam though...one live performance & one CD performance I believe.
Why, oh WHY, did Schmidt never compose a cello concerto!!! Waaaaaanh!!!
hear hear!! it is a demise to find out that never was to happen.
I love these symphonies - all of them. Too bad more 20th Viennese composers didn't take the same path that Schmidt did rather than follow Schoenberg, Berg and Webern. The Bychkov recording with Vienna is quite good, really, and boy did they need to play. After the two god-awful readings they made with Mitropoulos and Leinsdorf, they needed to redeem themselves.
I don't think the Bychkov is good at all--woefully under-characterized. Also, I'm glad that Viennese composers followed Schoenberg, Berg and Webern. Of course some of that stuff is junk, but the good stuff is a heck of a lot more interesting than the patch Schmidt was on. I enjoy him, some of it very much, but as history pretty plainly shows, it was a dead end.