Weber: Symphonies 1 & 2

On this CD:

1. Symphony No.1 in C major, J50
Composed by Carl Maria von Weber
Performed by Winds of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch

2. Symphony No.2 in C major, J51
Composed by Carl Maria von Weber
Performed by Winds of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch

Tracks:

Overture
1: Adagio/Allegro Vivace
2: Andante
3: Menuetto E Trio: Allegro
4: Allegro Vivace
1: Largo/Allegro Vivace
2: Andante
3: Menuetto E Trio: Allegro Vivace
4: Presto Vivace

Tracks:

1: Adagio Maestoso/Allegro Con Brio
2: Allegretto
3: Menuetto E Trio: Vivace
4: Presto Vivace
1: Adagio Molto/Allegro Vivace
2: Andante
3: Menuetto E Trio: Allegro Vivace
4: Allegro
Ballet Music No. 1: Allegro Moderato
Ballet Music No. 2: Andantino

Customer Reviews:

Weightier Schubert than usual.......2005-04-12

The tendency with these earlier symphonies, several written I think when Schubert was in his teens, is to make them sweet and beguiling. Beecham is the ultimate source for this approach, it has its rewards, and most think its never been bettered.

Karajan seems to have a different slant. He assumes that young Schubert wanted to get out of his knee breeches and wear long pants ASAP. In a way that makes sense; I know of no young creative person who starts out determined to reflect their own youth and inexperience, who wants to sound cute. Therefore the performances here are weightier, looking decidedly forward to the "Unfinished" and the "Great." The result is perhaps more, in an ironic sense given the conductor, historically accurate--they now sound like (over)ambitious and often melodramatic symphonies written by a teen genius, not charming confections tossed off by a mature Schubert who couldn't have existed at the time of their writing. They're now in the same league as the Bizet Symphony and that's not such a bad place to be.

There are losses and gains. The performances by the Berlin are excellent and so's the sound quality. At times there's some genuine drama but be warned there isn't as much hoochy-coo as we expect from recordings of this music. Schubert had hoochy-coo down pat probably by the age of six--I'm sure for him it was just writing good melodies, an innate gift he couldn't get around if he tried--but it took him years to develop his very unique and convincing drama. Early on when he tries to get serious (and that's more often than we care to admit as these recordings show) he sounds like a second rate French composer of dramatic overtures. For the price I strongly recommend these as alternates to the frothier Schubert recordings we've been served up lately. If nothing else (and don't get me wrong, I do like them) they make for terrific background music.

[Years later: I have this horrible feeling that the one person who read this and "didn't find it helpful" was offended by my use of the expression "hootchy-coo" in reference to the deity, Schubert. I am so sorry. Otherwise, I can't imagine what was unhelpful about it, in fact I think my points about young Schubert's self-image are original and fairly well-thought-out. This whole Amazon review thing is sometimes bewildering but it sometimes makes me understand why George W. Bush keeps winning elections in this country]

Karajan's Schubert Cycle Reissued for Cheap!.......2005-03-14

EMI's new "Gemini" series is a breath of fresh air amidst all the smoke being put forth recently by the major classical labels. While Sony is deleting most of their classical budget discs, BMG is raising theirs to mid-price and UNI is convinced that 3CDs are always better than one, EMI decides to start a two-fer line that sells for significantly less than the competition, not to mention their own "Double Forte" series. It might not be as cheap as the old "Seraphim" series, but they could certainly be charging more for quality recordings such as these.

Herbert von Karajan's Schubert Symphony Cycle, made between 1975-78 for EMI with the Berlin Philharmonic, has been available previously on CD in the "Karajan Edition." However, those discs, released as four single titles with two Symphonies each, were twice the price of these new reissues. These performances of Symphonies 1-4 plus some Rosamunde excerpts are certainly solid, but Karajan was never celebrated as a conductor of Schubert. One wonders if that is why DG had a young Lorin Maazel record the Schubert Symphonies with the Berliners instead of Herbie at the dawn of the stereo age, and that ultimately EMI had him record this Cycle because it was something he hadn't yet done for DG. In any event, I would certainly recommend the Bohm boxed set on DG or the Kertesz on London/Decca (see my review of the latter) ahead of these performances. But considering how cheap these two double discs are, maybe picking up an extra Schubert Cycle is worth it after all.

Average customer rating:

Another Outstanding Naxos Recording!
Symphony No. 2, a really great discovery
FIRE AND AIR
Amended review
A Delight In All Respects

Weber: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2

Manufacturer: Naxos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

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Similar Items:

Weber: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2; Polacca Brillante; Konzertstück
Carl Maria von Weber: Clarinet Concertos
Weber: Clarinet Works
Saint-Saëns: Les 5 Symphonies
Bruch: The Complete Symphonies

ASIN: B00000140J
Release Date: 1994-12-13

Tracks:

Symphony No. 1 in C Major; J. 50: Allegro con fuoco
Symphony No. 1 in C Major; J. 50: Andante
Symphony No. 1 in C Major; J. 50: Scherzo And Trio
Symphony No. 1 In C Major, J. 50: Finale: Presto
Symphony No. 2 In C Major, J. 51: Allegro
Symphony No. 2 In C Major, J. 51: Adagio ma non troppo
Symphony No. 2 In C Major, J. 51: Menuetto And Trio
Symphony No. 2 In C Major, J. 51: Finale: Scherzo presto
Turandot, J. 75: Overture
Turandot, J. 75: Funeral March From Act V
Turandot, J. 75: March From Act II
Silvana, J. 87: Tanz der Edelknaben
Silvana, J. 87: Fackel Tanz
Die Drei Pintos, Anh. 5: Entr'acte

Customer Reviews:

Another Outstanding Naxos Recording!.......2007-03-23

Weber wrote both of his Symphonies in the same year (1807), and both are in the key of C Major. However, each one brings different delights. The sound is excellent on this Naxos release, and the playing by the Queensland Philharmonic is impressive, especially by the horns, with a wonderful viola solo in the Adagio of the Second Symphony. Weber's music here is witty, adventurous and at times a little unpredictable. The Penguin Guide has awarded this great recording a Rosette, which is their highest honor, reserved only for a recording that "shows special illumination, magic or a spiritual quality...that places it in a very special class". I wholeheartedly agree. And, as a nice bonus, Naxos has added attractive excerpts from two lesser-known operas, as well as incidental music from Turandot. I highly recommend this CD, and the price is easy on the budget, to be sure.

Symphony No. 2, a really great discovery.......2006-03-21

Until I bought this CD, I had never heard the Weber 2nd Symphony. It is a strange but an absolutely delightful piece. The first movement is longer than the rest of the symphony combined. It is also as fine an example of sonata-allegro form as you will ever hear. The horn solo in the second theme is just gorgeous. The second movement is short but lovely, the menuetto even shorter and the finale is less than 2 minutes and just when you think it is over the bassoon plays one last fade away phrase. It almost like Weber is poking fun at Beethoven's 5th. The rest of the music, including the much more popular 1st Symphony, are all lovely and fun to listen to. But it is the 2nd Symphony that really caught my ear. Great performances from New Zealand.

FIRE AND AIR.......2004-01-24

Naxos really are doing us proud. Here is yet another first-class disc of comparatively out of the way music, beautifully performed and recorded. I am very enthusiastic for Weber in general. He had a superlative melodic gift for one thing, he was a brilliant orchestrator and he is blessedly free of pretentiousness. Nobody would look to his compositions for lessons in intellectual techniques, but I will happily trade that to be spared laboured workings-out, twaddling `passages' and the whole baggage of second-rate 19th century instrumental music. All the music on this record is comparatively lightweight, but the symphonies less so than the incidental music. Being perfectly candid, I find them more interesting than the early symphonies of my beloved Schubert. There is a theatrical feel to them, but that is no bad thing in my opinion, and when the inevitable thoughts of Rossini came to the forefront of my mind I also found myself reflecting that Weber had a soul within him, a thing of fire and air, where Rossini had nothing but a vacuum.

The recorded quality is in some ways very striking indeed, with startling resonance in the bass - to start with I could almost have sworn that I heard a tuba. The Queensland Philharmonic play with real life, vigour and enthusiasm, and the conductor has to my way of thinking the right extroversion and sense of style and pace for this particular music. There is also a businesslike and helpful liner-note giving some information on conductor and orchestra as well as commentary on the music.

Right at the end we have something very different and very interesting indeed - an entr'acte put together by Mahler from material Weber had left from an unfinished opera The Three Pintos. Suddenly to hear Mahler's idiom and Mahler's scoring in a ghostly embrace with Weber's has real `tingle-factor` for me, something like the effect of the last bars of the Flying Dutchman overture, written by the Wagner of Tristan and Isolde. I am going to get very attached to this record.

Amended review.......2001-06-30

I lowered my original score from 4 star to 2 star after listening to it a few more times. It became clearer to me that, though the recording is dead quiet with no extraneous noise, the strings are muffled considerably. Great music, OK recording quality.

A Delight In All Respects.......2001-06-23

Weber clearly liked to keep a little fun in his music. These two symphonies are delightful music. Weber used a light touch to lead the listener through a spirited conversation between the orchestra sections. Instead of hiding the woodwinds behind a curtain of strings as was typical, Weber brought them out where they shine without being shrill or syrupy. None of that thin, reedy stuff here, its all full-bodied. Weber's love of the oboe shows. The orchestra plays Weber beautifully and the engineers did a great job too.

Weber:Horn Concertino-Overtures Symphonies Nos. 1&2

Average customer rating:

Excellent stuff.
Vital and Esprit
Vital and Esprit

Weber:Horn Concertino-Overtures Symphonies Nos. 1&2

Manufacturer: Nimbus Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Waltzes | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

German | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00004XPKJ
Release Date: 2000-10-10

Tracks:

Ov: Euryanthe
Ov: Oberon
Ov: Der Freischutz
Ov: The Ruler Of The Spirits
Invitation To The Dance
Ov: Abu Hassan
Ov: Peter Schmoll

Tracks:

Sym No.1 in C: I. Allegro Con Fuoco
Sym No.1 in C: II. Andante
Sym No.1 in C: III. Scherzo: Presto
Sym No.1 in C: IV. Finale: Presto
Hrn Con in E - Anthony Halstead
Sym No.2 in C: III. Allegro
Sym No.2 in C: II. Adagio Ma Non Troppo
Sym No.2 in C: III. Menuetto: Allegro
Sym No.2 in C: IV. Finale: Scherzo Presto

Customer Reviews:

Excellent stuff........2005-03-24

This disc served as my introduction to Weber's music OTHER than Der Freischutz (I already had the complete recording of Freischutz before I found this one). The Hanover Band sounds absolutely stunning, very resonant even on period instruments. It's really breathtaking to hear this music the way it would've sounded to Weber's ears in the 1820's. The brass tuttis are stellar...if you don't like bass trombone, you may become a little annoyed with this recording because it constantly has lots of prescence when it has any part at all. I don't mind this, as I love the instrument.

If you are a horn player, like me, and/or have any interest in handhorn, this recording is a must for the Concertino. I've never heard natural horn sound so good. The horn openings of the Oberon and Freischutz Overtures sound amazing on the period instruments. You'll be amazed how open the brass sound is on the chorale-style section in Ruler of the Spirits...it can make you wish the valve was never invented.

I didn't really care for the symphonies...if you like Schubert's symphonies, you will probably enjoy them. Weber's music had a huge impact on the musical world, almost pointing a straight arrow to Wagner. If you listen closely to the Overture to Oberon, you can hear the similarity to many parts of Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream. (same plot line, after all). In my opinion, this is great music played very capably by a great ensemble. For the quality of the Overtures and Concertino alone, this disc is a bargain.

Vital and Esprit.......2002-11-15

The orchestral colours are excitingly recorded, especially the brass is pretty dramatic.

Thanks to the period instruments with Goodman as conductor one can hear the demonic power and richness of sonority of Weber's beautiful music.

I compared quite a lot of other recordings and must say that this one is my favourite.

Vital and Esprit.......2002-11-15

The orchestral colours are excitingly recorded, especially the brass is pretty dramatic.

Thanks to the period instruments with Goodman as conductor one can hear the demonic power and richness of sonority of Weber's beautiful music.

I compared quite a lot of other recordings and must say that this one is my favourite.

Wagner: Symphony in C Major; Weber: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2
Average customer rating:
Wagner: Symphony in C Major; Weber: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2
Rasilainen , and Norwegian Radio Orchestra
Manufacturer: Apex
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music
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Tannhäuser / Domingo, Studer, Baltsa, Salminen, A. Schmidt; Sinopoli

ASIN: B0000AKUAW
Release Date: 2006-05-31

Tracks:

Symphony In C Major
Symphony No.1 In C Major, J.50 (Op.19)
Symphony No.2 In C Major, J.51

Schubert: Symphonies 1 & 2 / Weber: Freischutz Overture

Average customer rating:

Schubert: Symphonies 1 & 2 / Weber: Freischutz Overture

Manufacturer: EMI Records [All429]
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Classical | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B000002S86
Release Date: 2001-01-09

Tracks:

'Der Freischutz' Ov
Sym No.1, D.82 in D: I. Adagio-Allegro vivace
Sym No.1, D.82 in D: II. Andante
Sym No.1, D.82 in D: III. Menuetto (Allegro) & Trio
Sym No.1, D.82 in D: IV. Allegro vivace
Sym No.2, D.125 in B flat: I. Largo-Allegro vivace
Sym No.2, D.125 in B flat: II. Andante
Sym No.2, D.125 in B flat: III. Menuetto (Allegro) & Trio
Sym No.2, D.125 in B flat: IV. Presto vivace

Average customer rating:

Weber: Symphonies 1 & 2

Manufacturer: Orfeo
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00000598D
Release Date: 1995-05-23

Average customer rating:

Symphonies 1 and 2

ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000A6L1CU

Product Description

Symphony No. 1 in C Major / Symphony No. 2 in C Major / Coriolan Overture, OP. 62 / Leonore Overture NO. 3, OP. 72B

Weber: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2 / Academy Of St. Martin In The Fields / Marriner

Average customer rating:

Weber: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2 / Academy Of St. Martin In The Fields / Marriner

Manufacturer: Vanguard
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000F3ODEQ

Product Description

Tracks 1. - 4. are Symphony No. 1 in C Major. Tracks 5. - 8. are Symphony No. 2 in C Major

Carl Maria Von Weber. Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2.

Average customer rating:

Carl Maria Von Weber. Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2.

Manufacturer: Vanguard
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000ML8JYQ

Average customer rating:

Weber: Symphonies 1 & 2/Horn Concertino
Anthony Halstead , Roy Goodman , and Hanover Band
Manufacturer: Nimbus Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B00000E07X
Release Date: 1992-12-02

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