Schubert breaks music drought - symphony cycle

You can tell nothing's happening in London when the newspapers send their folks to distant regions or to things that don't usually get covered. But there's a respite from the drought online. Lots of operas - Paris Pelléas et Mélisande, Ariadne auf Naxos, the Munich Eugene Onegin (highly recommended) and Rusalka from La Monnaie which I've watched 4 times so far and enjoyed a lot - review to follow. Schubert to the rescue as usual.

More unusually, Mark Minkowski and Les Musiciens du Louvre-Grenoble are doing a complete cycle of Schubert symphonies on Arte liveweb. This is a major event because Schubert's symphonies aren't often heard as a group together. Most significantly, though, Minkowski and his players aren't normally into the Austro-German mainstream that hangs so heavily on Schubert, who died before late 19th century tradition took hold. Instead, Minkowski approaches Schubert afresh. "Il nous fallait dépasser la difficulté de ces œuvres pour retrouver une forme de jeu, d’amusement.". Brightness, experimentation and the joy of being creative. Even in his bleakest moments that creative impulse didn't desert the composer.

A lot of nonsense is written about period performance, and some by its supporters, but what it really has to offer is energy and agility. Nothing precious about that. Far from being effete, period practice highlights structure and movement - no hiding behind texture for its own sake. Witness John Eliot Gardiner's muscular Rigoletto, which proved to be the surprise hit of the recent ROH production (review HERE)


"La démarche est aussi scientifique : il faut trouver l’édition critique la plus proche du manuscrit, tout en s’interrogeant sur certaines liaisons ou reprises qui peuvent parfois paraître maladroites. De leur côté, les musiciens recherchent les instruments anciens les plus appropriés à ce répertoire. « L’emploi d’instruments d’époque permet de mieux faire ressortir le dialogue entre les cordes et les vents. On peut être surpris par certaines sonorités, par exemple les sons bouchés du cor naturel au début de la symphonie « La Grande ». Ce sont des timbres qui, littéralement, “parlent”. Il est aussi intéressant de noter que le hautbois classique employé ici est très proche du hautbois viennois toujours utilisé dans les orchestres à Vienne. »"

Listen to Schubert's 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th symphonies HERE on arte liveweb.