Schumann: Symphonies 3 & 4 [Original recording reissued]

Robert Schumann (Composer), Roger Norrington (Conductor), London Classical Players (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: London Classical Players
• Conductor: Roger Norrington
• Composer: Robert Schumann
• Audio CD (June 6, 2000)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued
• Label: Angel Records
• ASIN: B00004RITS
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #394,528 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars OK, If You Like This Sort of Thing, May 27, 2008

By 

Moldyoldie (Motown, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Schumann: Symphonies 3 & 4 (Audio CD)

Norrington and his original instruments ensemble the London Classical Players were all the rage when this was originally released roughly twenty years ago. What they did for/to Beethoven was presumably also good for Schumann, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Schubert, and Berlioz. The tempos here, however, are not that extreme, hewing fairly close to what's often heard in more Classically rendered performances of the Schumann symphonies. The orchestra plays elegantly with nary a purposely blatty horn perforating the proceedings (nor one's ear drums). Norrington doesn't manage to clarify the thick orchestration to an appreciable extent as certain passages do sound muddy, though this could be a result of a certain inexactness in ensemble. Otherwise, these are fairly enjoyable, though nondescript and unexpressive readings of works whose "period charms" are perhaps better exemplified elsewhere. I've yet to hear John Eliot Gardiner's period instrument renditions, nor Norrington's more recent modern instrument renditions from Stuttgart.