Customer Reviews

Schmidt: Symphony No. 1; Strauss: Four Interludes from Intermezzo

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I admit that I didn't know anything about Schmidt before reading Michael Steinberg's priceless book "The symphony" . This is one the most rewarding discoveries I owe Mr. Steinberg! Schmidt lived in the culturally thriving Vienna of the 20s, the Vienna of Mahler and Strauss, and while there's something of Strauss in his rich orchestrations, Schmidt learned from Bruckner, that he much admired, the love for the grand symphonic form. Schmist made no concessions to the flamboyant, sometimes bombastic form of the symphonic poem, nor to the anguished neurosis of Mahler So, think about a grand Brucknerian symphony but with Viennese Romantic charm instead of the mysticism, less brass, more strings and woodwinds, lush Straussian (or Korngoldian, if you want) orchestrations , a good amount of severe Reger counterpoint, and you'll get a rough idea of a Schmidt symphony. May sound like a mixed bag, but make no mistake, Schmidt's works are entirely personal and well-integrated: they are full of personal ideas and wonderful (may I dare to say catchy?) melodies, and his skill in using all the orchestral possibilities is magnificent throughout. Also, Schmidt's is a real symphonic "cycle", because each one of the four symphonies has its own individual "character" , showing very clearly the composer's evolution. The 1st is an affirmative work : it's still somewhat derivative from the models mentioned above (he was just 24) , but the talent for architectural development, the real symphonist's mark, is apparent throughout. It's an effusively late-Romantic work, but with an intriguing post-Baroque taste for polyphony, and already personal. The 2nd , is the most decadently rich of the four, it's lushly sweeping , with grandly shaped climaxes which inevitably remind the listener of Bruckner. If you like to wallow in lavish sounds, you'll love this one. The 3rd is, in my opinion, a splendid work: it's more graceful than sumptuos, the orchestration is leaner. The mood is overall lighter and less decadent , the melodies (the Adagio!) charmingly poignant, the final movement (a chorale introduction followed by a noble, dignified dance-like section) is, among Schmidt's finest things. The 4th, regarded by many as Schmidt's masterpiece, stands a bit apart from the others : the mood is much darker (it was inspired by Schmidt's grief for his daughter's death), and the form is unusually daring. The whole, massive one-movement symphony blossoms from one instrument's solo, a stupendously eerie trumpet phrase which, through wonderfully inventive developments (among them, a stunning funeral march) leads us to the shatteringly percussive climax. Once more, kudos to the Jarvi/Chandos partnership for their adventuresome repertoire choices, and for recording them with top-notch orchestras. The playing is very accomplished and idiomatic throughout, especially considering that this is not exactly "standard" repertoire. If the live-recorded Chicagoans bring their special plus of virtuosity to the 2nd and 3rd, the Detroit Symphony matches them in the other two (I'd even say that they produce a more "viennese" sound). Richly warm, well-detailed Chandos engineering, fuller in the Detroit studio recordings, Among the (too few!) Schmidt cycles currently on the market, this is surely the first choice but, if you can find it, also get the Gramophone Award-winner recording of the 4th by Franz Welser-Most and the LPO on EMI, it's really special.

This is ravishingly beautiful music from start to finish! It
deserves to be much better known than it is. BUY IT and START
ENJOYING IT! Some critics have commented on the "baroque"
feeling of the opening bars of the first movement. There is
something Handelian about it. But it is a lushly romantic
piece through and through. The opening "baroque" passage for
the brass section fades out leaving the strings soaring off
in soul-like, "weightless" freedom. It produces a glorious
effect. A moving trumpet solo follows leading to a theme for
the horns that some might consider reminiscent of Richard Strauss.
There are also some lovely Schumann-like passages.
But make no mistake - in spite of such reminiscences,
the music is true Franz Schmidt throughout. Strauss
never constructed such a firm sonata form movement, and it is
really the architecture that drives the music so satisfactorily.
The second movement contains some of the most beautiful clarinet
solos I have ever heard, at one point played against a horn
choir for a thrilling effect. Schmidt was a master of playing
different orchestral choirs against each other. The scherzo
movement is a sheer delight from beginning to end, almost
Brucknerian in feeling but with a lightness and elegance
of touch that Bruckner himself could have used more often.
The trios introduce lilting melodies
with a distinctive Austrian flavor that leave you wishing for
more. The final movement launches into a fugue that
Reger might have envied, mixes in a stirring chorale, and ends
in a triumphal apotheosis delighting in its own musicality.
What began perhaps with an appreciative glance at Handel ends
with a veritable homage to Bach. Yet the work is thoroughly
romantic in the best sense and displays a composer with a
powerful and unique voice. In its sophisticated and assured
command of form, orchestration, and melody, it stands apart
from all but the greatest "first" symphonies. Neeme Jarvi
and the Detroit Symphony do a splendid job throughout. It is
easy to forget about the elegant excerpts from Strauss's
Intermezzo that round out the CD. I love Strauss, but this is
really Schmidt's CD. If you are not allergic to late romantic
music, you will not regret buying this CD!

I've read so much of how Symphony No. 1 of Franz Schmidt is derivative of this or that composer and this or that antedated construction; to me it starts out for all the world like Schumann's Rhenish Symphony, then continues on in a delightfully flowing and melodic fashion firmly ensconced in the late 19th century Viennese tradition -- it was first performed there in 1902. (An egregious error exists in the notes: It correctly states that Schmidt was born in 1874, then later states that he wrote his First Symphony at the age of thirty-eight! It was actually composed in the years 1896-99 upon the composer's graduation from the Vienna Conservatory and in his early years serving as cellist for the Vienna Philharmonic.) Much like the other symphonies I've heard, I mostly think of Brucknerian construction, Brahmsian lyricism and Straussian lilt; but that would only be for the purposes of illustration. It's actually quite unique in voice and expression. The orchestration is often dense, but not so thick as to preclude harmonic clarity; the spaciousness of the vivid recording in Detroit's Orchestra Hall probably lends a bit of translucency to the procedings. I can't think of anything that could possibly rebuff the modern listener over it's roughly forty-five minutes and four disparate movements of nearly equal length.

The same can be said of Strauss' Four Interludes from Intermezzo. We're treated to full-bodied dramatic excitement; a delightfully lilting waltz; a dreamy reverie leading to a hyper-Romantic long-limned, er, interlude; a playful bit featuring piano and strings of an almost cloyingly obvious Viennese character -- all concluding with a brief rousing finale. Kudos must go out to Järvi and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra for the seemingly authentic qualities they evoke here -- this was great fun to listen to!