In his recordings of the symphonic repertoire, Philippe Herreweghe has sometimes alternated between conducting period instruments ensembles and conventional modern orchestras, and his interpretations seem to depend on the capabilities and comparative sizes of the groups he leads. For example, Herreweghe recorded all four of Robert Schumann's symphonies for Harmonia Mundi with the Orchestre des Champs-Élyssées, a chamber orchestra noted for playing vintage instruments with an ear to recreating the orchestral palettes of the ...
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In his recordings of the symphonic repertoire, Philippe Herreweghe has sometimes alternated between conducting period instruments ensembles and conventional modern orchestras, and his interpretations seem to depend on the capabilities and comparative sizes of the groups he leads. For example, Herreweghe recorded all four of Robert Schumann's symphonies for Harmonia Mundi with the Orchestre des Champs-Élyssées, a chamber orchestra noted for playing vintage instruments with an ear to recreating the orchestral palettes of the Classical and Romantic eras. For this 2019 Phi release of Schumann's Symphony No. 2 in C major and the Symphony No. 4 in D minor, Herreweghe leads the full-sized Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, drawing out a fairly homogenized ensemble sound with none of the distinctive sonorities and techniques of historically informed performances. This, of course, is the conductor's prerogative, and as a practical matter, many large symphony orchestras cannot manage the changes in instrumentation...
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