Shining Through The classical inheritance of Schubert's Symphonies - impresses ANDREW SCHARTMANN '... a fascinating perspective ...'

Complete cycles of the Schubert symphonies are generally considered to stand or fall on the performance of D 759 (Unfinished) and D 944 (Great). This preferential treatment of the late works mimics a deeply-entrenched bias in concert programming, which pays little attention to the first six symphonies, perhaps with the exception of D 417 (Tragic). Much at odds with these trends, Lorin Maazel's set of live recordings with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra stands precisely on those works typically deprived of critical scrutiny.

Much to the collection's benefit, Maazel resists the all-too-common urge to romanticize Schubert's early essays in the genre...

FRANZ SCHUBERT

AUSTRIA

GERMANY

ORCHESTRAL MUSIC