Schubert: Symphonies Nos. 8 and 9 (CD review)

Herbert Blomstedt, Gewandhausorchester. DG 486 3045 (2-disc set).

By John J. Puccio and Karl W. Nehring

The album according to John:

It seems appropriate that one of the oldest ensembles in the world, the Gewandhaus Orchestra (its pedigree can be traced to 1743), should be directed in these performances by one of the world’s oldest currently performing conductors, Herbert Blomstedt (b. 1927). It is also appropriate that we hear Franz Schubert’s Ninth Symphony with the Gewandhaus Orchestra, who under its Music Director at the time, Felix Mendelssohn, premiered the complete work in 1839 (over a decade after the composer’s death). And Deutsche Grammophon is among the oldest and most-respected record labels in the world, so there’s that.

Disc one of this two-disc album contains Schubert’s Symphony No. 8 in B minor “Unfinished” D 759. Now, while it may seem extravagant to devote an entire compact disc to one work lasting little more twenty-five minutes, look at the logistics. These performances of the Eighth and Ninth Symphonies together exceed the time limitations of a conventional CD. So two CD’s are necessary; but understand that the folks at DG are offering the two discs for the price of one. So, no, you’re not paying extra for anything. Most record companies devote an entire disc to a recording of the Ninth Symphony alone. Here, you are essentially getting the Eighth Symphony for free.

Now, about Maestro Blomstedt's rendering of the Eighth. As you know, Schubert (1797-1828) began it in 1822 but left it unfinished after two movements. There are sketches for a third movement in piano form, but Schubert never filled it out or fully orchestrated it. Which probably didn’t matter to him because like most of his work, it would never see a public performance of it in his lifetime, and it didn’t get a premiere until 1865, long after his death. Nevertheless, the “Unfinished” has become one of the mainstays of the classical catalogue and one of the most-beloved pieces of music ever written.

Blomstedt’s way with it is, like most of his performances, loving and poignant, which fits with the requirements of the “Unfinished” ideally. I’ve always thought the Eighth Symphony was among the most melodic, tuneful symphonies in the classical repertoire, and Blomstedt takes full advantage of the music with a performance that is sweet and rich and, yes, powerful at all the right moments. What’s more, unlike his latest recordings of the Brahms symphonies with this same orchestra on Pentatone, these Schubert pieces are not at all hesitant or undernourished. They are vibrant, forceful interpretations, with a wonderfully flowing gait and beautifully song-filled tone. Blomstedt’s reading of the “Unfinished” must rank among the better versions available today.

The second disc contains Schubert’s Symphony No. 9 in D major “Great” D 944. He wrote it somewhere between 1825 and his death in 1828. However, the history of this last of Schubert’s numbered symphonies is somewhat curious because even though the composer dated it 1828, the year of his death, he probably didn’t actually write it in 1828. In fact, it may not have even been his last symphony. The odds are he wrote it earlier than 1828, maybe 1826, which makes little difference since, like the rest of Schubert’s orchestral music, he never published any of it. When it finally did see publication in 1849, the listing showed it as Schubert’s Eighth Symphony. These days, we generally agree on it being called his Ninth.

The structure of the symphony is fairly conventional: I. Andante – Allegro ma non troppo; II. Andante con moto; III. Scherzo Allegro vivace; and IV. Finale: Allegro vivace. However, its length was quite long by the standards of the day, especially when a conductor takes all of the repeats as Blomstedt does. Robert Schumann called it a “heavenly length,” yet early musicians found it difficult to play because of its extended string and woodwind parts. Whatever, listeners have always loved it, just as it appears does Maestro Blomstedt.

Blomstedt uses a newer edition of the score than the familiar one Brahms edited. Among the changes is restoring a quicker tempo to the first movement, and Blomstedt does just that. It moves along swiftly yet effortlessly, even with the repeats. Blomstedt manages to make the symphony sound new again, regardless of length. The second movement Andante con moto indicates the conductor should play it moderately slow but with motion or animation, which Blomstedt does with a graceful ease. There’s no repetitive boredom about it, and it moves along with an elegant yet assertive lyricism.

The Scherzo radiates a fluid agility that both complements and contrasts with the preceding Andante. It is quite a beautiful part of the whole and not just an added crowd pleaser meant only to liven up the proceedings. Then we come to the monumental finale, which Schubert clearly intended to be grand and from which in part the symphony gets its “Great” title (and not just to distinguish it from Schubert’s earlier “Little C major” Symphony No. 6). Maestro Blomstedt propels it along at an energetic pace and with a lilting sprightliness, the orchestra sounding luxuriously opulent, fairly singing its rhapsodic lines.

No matter what one’s favorite Schubert Ninth may be (Klemperer, Krips, Szell, Mackerras, Solti, whomever), it would serve one’s interests to listen to this new one from Herbert Blomstedt.

Producer Bernhard Guettler and engineers Rene Moller, Toni Schlesinger, and Eike Bohm recorded the symphonies at the Gewandhaus, Leipzig, Germany in November 2021. As usual with recordings made in the Gewandhaus, we hear a warm, golden glow over the orchestra. The sound is a tad soft but luxuriously smooth and mildly resonant. This is especially welcome in the Eighth Symphony, where the sound tends to heighten the warmth of the performance. Still, the sound offers moderate definition as well as fullness. Although it may not satisfy the most finicky of audiophiles, it provides plenty of realistic naturalness.

JJP

The album according to Karl:

When I discovered to my surprise that this release comprised two discs, my first thought was, uh oh. To my way of thinking, needing two discs for these two symphonies is not a good sign. A little background: When I was just a young lad, there was a television series called "The United States Steel Hour" that presented hour-long live dramas featuring top actors and directors. I don’t recall any of the productions themselves, but the opening of the show is still burned into my brain -- a shot of an open hearth pouring out molten steel as the dramatic theme music played. I didn’t know what the music was at first, but at somewhere along the line my mother informed me that it was the opening of Schubert's Ninth Symphony. Many decades later, I still sometimes find myself thinking of that open hearth when I hear those opening measures.

Over the many years that have passed by since, the Schubert Ninth has been a work that I listened to many times on LP and then CD, but have never found it to be one of my favorite symphonies. I love that opening, and as the work continues, there are many memorable melodies and phrases, but at least for me, the work just seems never to quite know where it wants to go, and can seem to just go on and on. What to make, then, of a recording where the performance of the Ninth is sufficiently long that the Eighth must be allotted its own disc? (Note: I will confine my remarks to the recording of the Ninth.)

In Herbert Blomstedt and the Gewandhaus Orchestra, we certainly have a great combination of musicians. But right from the start, in those dramatic opening measures, I was surprised at how matter-of-fact the orchestra seemed to sound. In comparison with my longtime go-to CD for this work, the George Szell/Cleveland Orchestra recording (Sony Essential Classics SBK 48 268), Szell, who was never regarded as a heart-on-sleeve sort of conductor, draws significantly more expression from his players. There are some major overall differences in both the interpretations and the sonics  between the two versions. In the liner notes, Blomstedt makes a point about observing all the repeats in the score. Many (probably most, actually) conductors leave some or even all of them out in an attempt to mitigate that feeling of the work not quite knowing where it wants to go, and that given more time, perhaps Schubert might have done some editing himself. There are arguments to be made for both approaches, and certainly Blomstedt is taking a principled stand. The net objective effect of taking all the repeats can be seen by taking a look at the comparative timings versus Szell's performance for each movement, shown here as Szell/Blomstedt: 1. 13:29/15:25 | 2. 13:36/14:41. | 3. 7:18/15:11 | 4. 10:32/16:22. Subjectively, some listeners may prefer hearing Schubert's phrases and melodies being repeated, while others (and I am firmly in the latter camp) may well find themselves appreciating Szell’s (and many other conductors) more streamlined approach.

Sonically, the DG team certainly benefits from advances in recording technology over the past five decades. Although I enjoyed the greater hall ambience of the older recording, there is no denying that the newer digital recording is superior in terms of overall sound quality (although the older recording is by no means a bad one). The transparency of the recording reveals that the Gewandhaus plays marvelously, with both precision and power. If only Maestro Blomstedt had not elected to take all the repeats, and had just imparted some more passion into his interpretation.

KWN