Schubert 5 Gardner

For the third volume in their cycle of Schubert’s symphonies, Edward Gardner and the CBSO turn to the first and fourth symphonies. Composed in 1813, when Schubert was just sixteen, the First Symphony admirably demonstrates the young composer’s grasp of symphonic form and technique, and whilst the influences of Haydn, Mozart and early Beethoven are clearly audible, the spirit of Schubert’s own distinctive voice is certainly in evidence.

Following a highly successful series ‘Mendelssohn in Birmingham’, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra with their former Chief Conductor Edward Gardner here presents a new series: Schubert Symphonies.

Following a highly successful series ‘Mendelssohn in Birmingham’, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra with their former Chief Conductor Edward Gardner here presents a new series: Schubert Symphonies.

For the second volume in his Birmingham Schubert symphony cycle, Edward Gardner turns to the Second and Sixth Symphonies. Composed between December 1814 and March 1815, the Second Symphony is not only a response by Schubert to the works of Beethoven, and especially the Prometheus Overture, but also strives to push the conventional symphonic boundaries, most notably in the extended exposition of the first movement. Completed in February 1818, the Sixth Symphony was the first to be titled "Große Sinfonie" (grand symphony) by Schubert, a mark of his growing confidence in his work in the symphonic idiom. The two Overtures were composed at the same time as the Sixth Symphony, and are clearly modelled on the overtures of Rossini, whose music was all the rage in Vienna at that time.

This new Elgar surround-sound recording brings together some of Chandos’ finest exclusive British artists for the first time.

It is well known that Felix Mendelssohn’s sister Fanny was a highly talented musician, but fewer are familiar with the fact that there were two other musical siblings in the Mendelssohn family: Rebecka, a gifted singer, and Paul, a very competent amateur cellist. It is to Paul, a banker by profession, that we owe the existence of much of Felix’s music for the instrument, which in spite of Beethoven’s endeavours hadn’t yet become firmly established as a duo partner of the piano. Fitting comfortably on a single release, Mendelssohn’s works for cello and piano are here presented by Christian Poltera and Ronald Brautigam, who open with the Variations concertantes in D major, composed in 1829. Brautigam has recently released the composer’s Lieder ohne Worte, performing them on a copy of a piano by Pleyel from 1830, and plays the same instrument on the present disc. Meanwhile, Poltera has chosen to equip his 1711 Stradivarius cello with gut strings, and together the two musicians and their instruments create a sound which is both flexible, transparent and vigorous – ideal for Mendelssohn’s scores.

As well as being one of the 20th century's supreme orchestral composers, Sibelius produced around 100 songs. Yet he wrote very little original music for voice and orchestra. The shining exception is Luonnotar, for soprano and orchestra, which is one of his greatest achievements in any genre, but nothing else in his vocal output comes close to matching that work's dramatic power and originality.