Review by Jonathan Berman – Schmidt: Symphonies Nos. 1-4

Franz Schmidt’s four symphonies remain somewhat obscured. The BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Jonathan Berman follows up the complete isolated recordings (eg with Paavo Järvi, Deutsche Grammophon) with another. They provide a consistent result. It is significant that one might object that this recording in the Fourth Ensemble does not come close to Petrenko’s interpretation with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. But this edition impresses with its precision. It allows us to trace the path of the symphony composer Schmidt, who was searching for musical timbres, from the somewhat uncertain and initially romantically influenced first work to the “Requiem” symphony, the fourth, where the solo lecterns at the beginning of each movement are Berman’s cleverly integrated into the path Extra dramatic. This is also due to the fact that Berman reduces the harshness of post-Romanticism as a sound ideal and relies instead on transparency.

Schmidt: Symphonies Nos. 1-4

BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Jonathan Berman (conductor)
Dialect