Beethoven: Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21 / Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 55 'Eroica' / Symphony No. 4 in B flat major, Op. 60 / Coriolan Overture, Op. 62 / Egmont Overture, Op. 84 Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68 / Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98 Bruckner: Symphony No. 5 in B flat major / Symphony No. 9 in D Minor Schubert: Symphony No. 8 in B minor, D759 'Unfinished' / Symphony No. 9 in C major, D944 'The Great' Schumann: Symphony No. 4 in D minor, Op. 120
Wholenote Discoveries - April 2010
Included in the list of composers whose anniversaries are celebrated this year are two of the greatest and best loved masters of the Romantic Era, Frédéric Chopin and Robert Schumann, both born 200 years ago. It is only good business then for recording companies to issue and re-issue fine performances to feed, they hope, the heightened demand for the birthday boys’ music. There is a Schumann Fourth in a new boxed set from Profil featuring the late Günter Wand conducting the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin in performances between April 1993 and April 1996. One of the succession of famous conductors and music directors that has endowed this world-class orchestra - founded in 1946 by the American Forces in Berlin as the RIAS Symphony Orchestra - with a proud heritage, Wand looked beyond the printed score. His performances reflect the deepest commitment and focus so that it appears, at least to this listener, that in performance nothing exists but the composer’s creation. His Schumann unfolds organically with steady tempos and a true pulse. Amply dynamic, it is elegantly detailed and unusually compelling. So are three Beethoven Symphonies, one, three and four; Brahms First and Fourth; Bruckner’s Fifth and Ninth; and Schubert’s Eighth and Ninth. Brilliantly recorded, these are all from Wand’s favoured composers and his signature is on each one. In addition to the revelatory DVD My Life and Music that traces Günter Wand’s life including his last interview (RCA 828766388893, 2 DVDs), there are two essential 4 DVD Wand sets from TDK containing live Festival performances of Bruckner’s Fifth, Sixth, Eighth and Ninth, Haydn’s 76th and the Schubert Eighth (TDK cowandbox1) and Leonore III, Bruckner Fourth, Schubert Five, Eight and Nine, and Brahms First (TDK cowandbox2). The late master at work! Bruce Surtees
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