R. Schumann: Complete Symphonies Czech Philharmonic Orchestra & Lawrence Foster

• Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856): Symphony No. 1 in B-Flat Major, Op. 38 "Spring":
• 1 Schumann: Symphony No. 1 in B-Flat Major, Op. 38 "Spring": I. Andante un poco maestoso - Allegro molto vivace 10:59
• 2 Schumann: Symphony No. 1 in B-Flat Major, Op. 38 "Spring": II. Larghetto 06:45
• 3 Schumann: Symphony No. 1 in B-Flat Major, Op. 38 "Spring": III. Scherzo. Molto vivace 05:36
• 4 Schumann: Symphony No. 1 in B-Flat Major, Op. 38 "Spring": IV. Allegro animato e grazioso 08:41
• Symphony No. 2 in C Major, Op. 61:
• 5 Schumann: Symphony No. 2 in C Major, Op. 61: I. Sostenuto assai - Un poco più vivace - Allegro, ma non troppo 13:03
• 6 Schumann: Symphony No. 2 in C Major, Op. 61: II. Scherzo. Allegro vivace 06:55
• 7 Schumann: Symphony No. 2 in C Major, Op. 61: III. Adagio espressivo 10:21
• 8 Schumann: Symphony No. 2 in C Major, Op. 61: IV. Allegro molto vivace 08:17
• Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 97 "Rhenish":
• 9 Schumann: Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 97 "Rhenish": I. Lebhaft 09:53
• 10 Schumann: Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 97 "Rhenish": II. Scherzo. Sehr mäßig 06:54
• 11 Schumann: Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 97 "Rhenish": III. Nicht schnell 05:39
• 12 Schumann: Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 97 "Rhenish": IV. Feierlich 06:03
• 13 Schumann: Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 97 "Rhenish": V. Lebhaft 05:32
• Symphony No. 4 in D Minor, Op. 120 "Clara" (1851 Version):
• 14 Schumann: Symphony No. 4 in D Minor, Op. 120 "Clara" (1851 Version): I. Ziemlich langsam - Lebhaft 11:06
• 15 Schumann: Symphony No. 4 in D Minor, Op. 120 "Clara" (1851 Version): II. Romanze. Ziemlich langsam 04:23
• 16 Schumann: Symphony No. 4 in D Minor, Op. 120 "Clara" (1851 Version): III. Scherzo. Lebhaft 05:47
• 17 Schumann: Symphony No. 4 in D Minor, Op. 120 "Clara" (1851 Version): IV. Langsam - Lebhaft 09:57
• Total Runtime 02:15:51

Info for R. Schumann: Complete Symphonies

Robert Schumann started his career as a composer of piano music and Lieder, and is still best known for his work in these genres. Intimidated by Beethoven’s legacy, as well as by his friend Felix Mendelssohn’s prolific output, Schumann long avoided the symphony. Spurred by his wife Clara, who was convinced that his imagination could not find sufficient scope on the piano, he eventually ventured four highly original symphonies. While the First (“Spring”) and Third (“Rhenish”) display a typically German-Romantic predilection for the picturesque, the Second bears the fruit of Schumann’s study of Bach counterpoint, while the solemn and sombre Fourth seems to provide a hint of the composer’s troubled state in the final years of his life. The works are presented here in an excellent performance by the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Lawrence Foster.

Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Lawrence Foster, conductor

Lawrence Foster
currently holds the positions of music director of Orchestre et Opéra National de Montpellier and artistic director and chief conductor of the Gulbenkian Orchestra. Lawrence Foster has appeared in major opera houses throughout the world. He works regularly at Hamburgische Staatsoper, with recent productions having included Pélléas et Mélisande, Der Freischütz and Carmen. Future plans in Hamburg include Pique Dame in 2011/12 and The Cunning Little Vixen in 2013/14. In 2011 he returns to Opéra de Marseille for Wozzeck and will also conduct the world première of Die Marquise von O by René Koering for Opéra de Monte Carlo. He will make his debut with Oper Frankfurt with a production of Khovanschina in 2012/13.

Orchestral highlights of this season include appearances with NDR Sinfonieorchester Hamburg, NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover, the Residentie Orkest, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris and Tivoli Symphony Orchestra. He also has an ongoing relationship with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra; appearances with them in 2011 include the Kissinger Sommer Festival and touring in 2012.

Future highlights include concerts with MDR Sinfonieorchester Leipzig, Helsinki Philharmonic, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne and Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de Espana. He will also appear at the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival and will take the Gulbenkian Orchestra to the Enescu Festival in September 2011.

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