Schumann 41/51 Bucharest Symphony Orchestra & John Axelrod

• Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856): I. Andante con moto – Allegro di molto:
• 1 Schumann: I. Andante con moto – Allegro di molto 08:33
• II. Romanza: Andante:
• 2 Schumann: II. Romanza: Andante 04:11
• III. Scherzo: Presto:
• 3 Schumann: III. Scherzo: Presto 06:31
• IV. Largo – Finale. Allegro vivace:
• 4 Schumann: IV. Largo – Finale. Allegro vivace 05:58
• I. Ziemlich langsam – Lebhaft:
• 5 Schumann: I. Ziemlich langsam – Lebhaft 11:34
• II. Romanze: Ziemlich langsam:
• 6 Schumann: II. Romanze: Ziemlich langsam 04:52
• III. Scherzo:
• 7 Schumann: III. Scherzo: Lebhaft 07:25
• IV. Langsam – Lebhaft:
• 8 Schumann: IV. Langsam – Lebhaft 06:32
• Total Runtime 55:36

Info for Schumann 41/51

The Bucharest Symphony Orchestra and its principal conductor John Axelrod present a unique recording of the two versions of Robert Schumann's 4th Symphony. The original version was composed and premiered in 1841 and published almost 50 years later with the help of Johannes Brahms. The revised version from 1851, Schumann completed three years before his untimely death. The two show the different sides of Schumann, as he himself said: "Florestan the savage" and "Eusebius the mild". According to John Axelrod, the project delves deep into Schumann's life, his love and his struggle to maintain his mental health. These two works, one written in a manic creative year and the other in the depths of emotional despair, portray Schumann as an absolute romantic at his best.

Bucharest Symphony Orchestra
John Axelrod, conductor

Please Note: We offer this album in its native sampling rate of 48 kHz, 24-bit. The provided 96 kHz version was up-sampled and offers no audible value!

John Axelrod
Since 1996, Mr. Axelrod has conducted more than 175 orchestras, 35 operas and 60 world premieres, establishing a profile as one of today’s leading conductors and sought after by orchestras and opera houses throughout the world. His extraordinarily diverse repertoire, innovative programming, probing interpretations and charismatic performance style have been praised and recognized by both audiences and critics. In 2020, Maestro Axelrod received the Special Achievement Award from the International Classical Music Awards for his outstanding contributions and interpretations.

In 2022, Maestro Axelrod was unanimously elected as the Principal Conductor of the Bucharest Symphony Orchestra, with a unique open-ended contract. In 2019, Maestro Axelrod became the Principal Guest Conductor of the City of Kyoto Symphony Orchestra. In 2014, Maestro Axelrod was the Artistic and Musical Director of the Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla (ROSS). Other titled positions included Principal Guest Conductor of Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano (LaVerdi), Music Director of the NHK Jazz at the Metropolitan Theater, Music Director of the l’Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra and Theater, Music Director of “Hollywood in Vienna” with the ORF Vienna Radio Orchestra, and as First Conductor of Sinfonietta Cracovia.

In the 2023/24 season, John Axelrod will return twice to the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, conducting Bartók’s Concerto for orchestra, opening the Romanian Radio Orchestra’s season with Rachmaninoff’s 2nd Symphony, and in Japan, the Tokyo Metropolitain Symphony Orchestra and Ensemble Kanazawa, the latter in a performance of Gallardo del Rey’s double concerto for flamenco guitar and Japanese koto “The Samurai of Seville” in Sendai, from where the 12 samurai sailed to Seville in 1615. He also teaches at the Tokyo Conservatory at the invitation of Maestro Junichi Hirokami.

Among his long term relationships, invitations and recordings with European orchestras include Berlin’s RSB, NDR Symphony Hamburg (ElbePhilharmonie), Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchester, Filarmonica della Scala, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI Torino, Teatro La Fenice Orchestra in Venice, Orchestre de Paris, Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg, and the Mariinsky Orchestra in Russia. In the USA, Mr. Axelrod has conducted the Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra among others. Maestro Axelrod recently debuted to great acclaim with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra. Important regular festival engagements include the Enescu, Salzburg, Lucerne, Montreux Jazz and the Schleswig Holstein.

John Axelrod’s key opera activity includes Bernstein’s Candide at Théâtre du Châtelet, Teatro alla Scala and Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Eugene Onegin at Teatro San Carlo in Naples, and Kurt Weill’s Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny at the Rome Opera. For the Lucerne Festival, he conducted: Rigoletto, The Rake’s Progress, Don Giovanni, the Three Penny Opera, Falstaff and Idomeneo. Maestro Axelrod conducted Gianni Schicchi to open the 2020 Puccini Festival and returned in 2021 to conduct a new production of Turandot, directed by Daniele Abbado.

Mr. Axelrod has recorded core and contemporary repertoire for Sony Classical, Warner Classics, Ondine, Universal, Naïve and Nimbus, and released a cycle ofBrahms Symphonies with the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, entitled Brahms Beloved on Telarc, produced by Grammy winner Michael Fine.

Actively committed to working with young professional musicians, Mr. Axelrod was the Principal Conductor of the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, and he has toured with the Santander Orchestra, the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra to the Salzburg Festival, the Orchestra Giovanile Italiana, the Accademia della Scala to Muscat, the NordDeutsche Junge Philharmonie and the Vienna Jeunesse Orchester. In 2020, Maestro Axelrod created CMO. Conductors Masterclass Online, now teaching 26 students worldwide. In 2022, Maestro Axelrod led the Bucharest Music Institute Masterclass and Competition.

Mr. Axelrod graduated in 1988 from Harvard University. Trained personally by Leonard Bernstein in 1982, he also studied at the St. Petersburg Conservatory with Ilya Musin in 1996 and was mentored by Christoph Eschenbach from 1997 until 2000 when we made his professional debut at assistant conductor for Parisfal at the Bayreuth Festival.

Booklet for Schumann 41/51