When I received this 3-CD set from a friend, sent to me some time ago as a discard from WCLV, Cleveland’s classical music station, what really piqued my interest was the bonus material, which includes some rarely-heard overtures, most especially the world premiere recording of a work for chorus and orchestra called “Festive Overture on ‘Rheinweinlied’” – “Song of the Rhine Wine.”
What I didn’t expect was to be knocked back on my heels by a stunning performance of Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 1 (a.k.a. the “Spring Symphony”). It’s by a lesser-known orchestra – the Klassische Philharmonie Düsseldorf – and a student one at that, but it’s a real corker! The timpanist sounds as if he should be auditioning for “The Rite of Spring” and at climaxes the brass sing with the vigor of youth.
The effect is heightened, no doubt, by conductor Florian Merz’s interpretative decisions. The orchestra, playing on modern instruments, employs historically-informed practices, emulating the dimensions of Schumann’s orchestra when he was actually conductor in Dusseldorf. I must say, it really brings out the quirk, which brings the listener closer to the Schumann I imagine. The rest of the set doesn’t quite achieve this seismic resonance (though the Symphony No. 2 is also pretty damn impressive), yet it’s all undeniably well-played, with a natural feel for rubato.
Merz, who founded the group at the age of 15 (making him about 26 at the time of the recordings), knows what he wants, and he gets it. This is not the butterfly-and-lady-bug spring of May/June, but rather the stormy, sacrifice-to-the-old-gods spring of March/April, mercurial and electric. It’s a spring before modern conveniences, with all its danger and rough edges intact. It is the spring of actual experience.
I will never part with this set. The “Spring Symphony” is tops!
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