Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Symphony No 1 in B-flat major, Op 38 ‘Spring’ (1841)
Symphony No 2 in C major, Op 61 (1845-6)
Stavanger Symphony Orchestra/Jan Willem de Vriend
rec. 2023, Stavanger Konserthus, Stavanger, Norway
Challenge Classics CC72958 [66]
Jan Willem de Vriend and the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra present the introduction to the first movement of Schumann’s Spring Symphony as brightly disciplined and stimulating. The poetic contrast of fluttering bird-like flute solos (tr. 1, 1:16) is clear, and the progress into the main body Allegro molto vivace is eager. The woodwind’s dolce second theme (2:34) is agreeably demure. The third theme (5:31), despite its wary edge, is still bright; de Vriend maintains a skipping momentum. In the coda, the orchestra’s excitement becomes yours. Towards its end, comes the surprise of a fourth theme (9:57) and de Vriend makes it a gentle farewell, not a stylish blessing as in Philippe Herreweghe’s 2022 recording (review).
The Larghetto slow movement’s one theme is given a serene flow by de Vriend. After its second section’s new vistas (tr. 2, 1:32), the cellos’ return with the theme (1:56) seems to be a homage of gratitude. In the middle section (2:37), the throbbing demisemiquavers climax is resolved by the return of the theme in a magical duet by the oboe and horn (3:42), marred slightly by the oboe’s greater prominence, where Herreweghe achieves a finer balance. De Vriend’s coda (5:24) is led by a fine blending of bassoons and violas, though for me, he later overdoes the sf and fp effects. Near the end, alto, tenor and bass trombones present a lovely, becalming variant of the theme.
That variant becomes the head of the lynchpin theme of the Molto vivace Scherzo, a crisp, determined D minor from de Vriend, but the second strain (tr. 3, 0:25) is a smooth, brief, welcome in F major. Trio 1, D major Molto più vivace (1:15), boasts more playful rhythms and the second part moves into a triumphant tutti. In Trio 2, B flat major (3:23), de Vriend presents a contest of trenchantly descending and lightly rising phrases. The relaxed, enchanting D major coda (4:47) gets a slightly scrambled oboe solo (5:07), recovered by the flute and clarinet duet (5:12).
The finale is a Schubertian moto perpetuo that Schumann introduces with an imposing rising-theme fanfare. Allegro animato e grazioso presents the challenge of trying to combine the energetic with the graceful. Despite the pleasingly bright sheen from the strings and woodwind, I find de Vriend’s idea of “graceful” is too wispy. Timing at 8:21 against de Vriend’s 8:03, Herreweghe has more space to take a more jubilant, dancing approach. The playful second theme on oboes and bassoons (tr. 4, 0:51) receives a stern riposte from strings (0:53), a G minor version of the introduction fanfare; a descending variant of this in an F major tutti is the finale’s third theme (1:16). In the development, the oboe plays a five-note motif, a histrionic variant of the fanfare (4:20), then expands and decorates it (4:38). Again, I feel that the decoration should linger more, as should the following flute cadenza. In the coda, the rising fanfare (7:28), is exactly the same as the opening phrase of the Second Symphony’s leitmotif.
Symphony No 2 has a soft, chorale-like brass fanfare opening dominated by that four-note leitmotif over the strings’ counterpoint. I compare it with Herreweghe, recorded in 2018 (PHI LPH 032). De Vriend brings more focus initially on the fanfare; Herreweghe favours equipoise between the fanfare and counterpoint, and a determined sense of progression, whereas de Vriend finds more relaxation in the passage when the woodwind opens out. The Allegro main body proves a fast makeover of the leitmotif’s dotted rhythm, with a second phase (tr. 5, 3:30) increasing the energy and heroic aspirations of the strings. De Vriend employs trim articulation and a gradual increase of intensity, with the strings dominating; Herreweghe offers a more joyful swing, a more striking dynamic contrast between the phases, and more prominent woodwind to create a more galvanic effect.
De Vriend’s Scherzo has a lightness about it. In Trio 1 (1:45) leggiero woodwind interplay with strings, the first violins having lovely moments of “stretch and yawn”, which is more effective I felt, than his rather self-conscious later slowing down, before restoring the nifty tempo. Trio 2 (4:15) finds the strings interweaving in gentle chorale manner, the woodwind repeat adding more bloom and a brief flash of grandeur. To the Coda (6:32) de Vriend brings an exhilarating wildness, capped by the return of the work’s opening fanfare on trumpets and horns. Herreweghe is smoother, more sophisticated, Trio 1 is chattier, with neater tempo contrasts, Trio 2 dreamier – but I prefer the fresher directness of de Vriend’s shimmering woodwind and his bolder restatement of the fanfare.
De Vriend is deeply engaged in the Adagio espressivo and cantabile slow movement, which has a quality of heartfelt remembrance about it. It has only one melody, with arioso-like leaps and occasional fps, both visionary and dramatic. Again, the core is a four-note motif, but this melody evolves more. The core is maintained by be passed among solo instruments, e.g. sweetened by the oboe (tr. 7, 0:27) and extended by gently leaping fanfares by the horns (1:08), to which the first violins respond at first cautiously (1:32), then with a brief yet serene and refined passage in their stratospheric register, then trills, before closing in gentle, mellow acceptance. Herreweghe, timing at 8:08 against de Vriend’s 7:37, focuses on the clarity of instruments’ entries and lines, e.g. the fps at the apex of their leaps, his concentration bringing an element of self-consciousness, but less warmth.
De Vriend’s finale has lots of bounce, and is almost rakish, but the dolce second section (tr. 8, 0:37) has a counterbalancing delicacy, recalling the slow movement theme in violas and cellos (0:51). The clarinet’s piercing recall of this theme upside down (2:34) is startling; it is in turn shadowed by the work’s opening fanfare on horns and trumpets (2:46), then the inverted theme is dazzlingly purposeful, played on the first violins. There are three pauses, then a comely rising theme (3:50) which alludes to the final song of Beethoven’s An die ferne Geliebte, consolidated in Schumann’s second tune (5:41). This latter, delicate counterpoint and the fanfare theme are then intermingled and crowned by the emphatic high spirits of a con fuoco coda. Herreweghe, timing at 8:31 to de Vriend’s 8:08, is again a touch more measured yet less bombastic, more spruce and diaphanous.
MichaeI Greenhalgh
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