Title : Schubert: Symphonies No.8 "Unfinished" & No.9 "The Great"
Author : Schubert, Franz
Release Date : 19921117
Binding : Audio CD
Regular Price : $7.98
Amazon.com Price : $6.79
(15
%) VISIT AMAZON.COM'S PAGE
Editorial Reviews : Schubert's two greatest orchestral works on one CD at budget price--if the performances were indifferent this would be no bargain at all, but they are superb. In fact, these versions may have been equaled, but they have never been surpassed. George Szell understood intuitively how to balance Romantic passion with intellectual discipline. In difficult pieces like the Schubert Ninth, he rose to the challenge like an Olympic athlete after a new world record. The recordings he made in his prime with his own Cleveland Orchestra comprise one of the most satisfying legacies in the history of classical music on disc. Within even this impressive legacy, these performances stand high. --David Hurwitz
Buyer Reviews : I love the Cleveland orchestra and I love Szell, and his way with Mozart's symphonies is unsurpassed for me. But this Schubert somehow isn't there. True the musicians play with all the precision and beauty you'd expect. But the results are a little...flat. I do enjoy this recording, but there's something 'Schubertian' that's missing. Someone once said nature is never far from Schubert's mind, but to me it sounds far from Szell's mind. There's too much tautness here, too much of a martial precision. Simply, Szell is a little too straight-laced. For those who say look no further, this is the best Schubert ever!, etc., I have to wonder if they've ever heard Furtwangler's amazing 1942 and '43 traversals, or even in modern times Harnoncourt's recordings of the Schubert symphonies. (I'm not a Harnoncourt fan in general, but this set gets highest possible marks from me.) I also agree with Samanthajane that the tempi in the 'Great' are too fast, and we don't get that magnificent spirituality that's so central to this symphony. These are not BAD recordings, but in this hypercompetitive repertoire there are better introductions to these works.
