Schubert Immerseel Chevallier

In 1996 and 1997, Anima Eterna Brugge played and recorded Schubert’s complete symphonies in the particularly innovative interpretation of their conductor, Jos van Immerseel. This interpretation, based on the study of Schubert’s manuscripts and on the instruments used at the time of their first performance, showcases sound colors combining freshness and profundity. Upon its initial release, this series of 4 CDs was recognized internationally as a new reference.

A leader of the movement for historically informed performances, Jos van Immerseel has been active in performances of Renaissance and Baroque music, but he has concentrated on piano music of the Classical and Romantic eras, performing and recording much of the keyboard repertoire on period instruments. This eight-CD box set from Accent contains van Immerseel's recordings from 1979 to 1986, played on a variety of original pianofortes and modern reproductions, and with period instruments in the works for ensembles.

After exploring the universe of Ravel, Anima Eterna continues its voyage of discovery through twentieth-century French music with Francis Poulenc. In Jos van Immerseel’s view, Poulenc is one of the most significant personalities of the twentieth century, coupling immense erudition with surprising spontaneity. Not to mention the fact that Poulenc was also a particularly brilliant pianist.

Jos van Immerseel is one of the leading representatives of historical performance practice today. Alongside his great commitment to Renaissance and Baroque music, he has consistently broadened his view of the classical and romantic repertoire as well.

Jos van Immerseel: “While since its foundation in 1987 Anima Eterna Brugge has grown organically into a symphonic orchestra, chamber music once again forms an important part of our repertory today. We will continue our journey through orchestral music, but want to broaden our base by including chamber music as well.”

The disc, well recorded in 1987, is a very good performance of both the symphony and the overture. The symphony makes use of corrections made by studying the manuscript scores specially for this set of recordings. Only the first three symphonies had previously been checked in this way. In reality the differences are relatively small and concern various accenting marks and a few inserted bars. The most interesting potentially is the time signature for the slow movement which Schubert had marked as 2/2 time rather than the printed 4/4 time. This implies a faster pace with two bats per bar rather than four.