Four symphonies were enough for Robert Schumann to leave his mark. Without allowing himself to be overawed by Beethoven’s shadow, he succeeded from the outset in coining a highly personal idiom, with an astonishing combination of formal rigour and freedom of inspiration. Pablo Heras-Casado and the Münchner Philharmoniker offer their interpretation of this corpus, more mysterious than it appears, which tells of its composer’s passionate and tormented soul.
ROBERT SCHUMANN [1810-1856]
Symphony No. 1 Op. 38
"Spring / Le Printemps / Frühling"
B-flat major / Si bémol majeur / B-Dur maestoso - Allegro molto vivace
· I. Andante un poco (10'46)
· II. Larghetto (6'13)
· III. Scherzo. Molto vivace (5'36)
· IV. Allegro animato e grazioso (8'42)
Symphony No. 2 Op. 61
C major / Do majeur / C-Dur
· I. Sostenuto assai - Un poco più vivace - Allegro ma non troppo - Con fuoco (12'18)
· II. Scherzo. Allegro vivace (6'41)
· III. Adagio espressivo (9'40)
· IV. Allegro molto vivace (7'46)Symphony No. 3 Op. 97
"Rhenish / Rhénane / Rheinische"
E-flat major / Mi bémol majeur / Es-Dur
· I. Lebhaft (9'06)
· II. Scherzo. Sehr mäßig (5'52)
· III. Nicht schnell (5'00)
· IV. Feierlich (5'10)
· V. Lebhaft (5'45)
Symphony No. 4 Op. 120 (1851 version)
D minor / Ré mineur / d-Moll
· I. Ziemlich langsam - Lebhaft (10'32)
· II. Romanze. Ziemlich langsam (4'02)
· III. Scherzo. Lebhaft (4'46)
· IV. Langsam - Lebhaft (9'30)
