Pablo Heras-Casado has made a mark as a conductor of early and contemporary music, regularly leading the Freiburger Barockorchester in the former. Here, though, he directs the full might of the Münchner Philharmoniker in this survey of Robert Schumann's quintessentially Romantic symphonies. While all four symphonies were popular in the second half of the 19th century, the turn of the 20th century and the movement into modernism were not kind to these works, which suffered neglect for much of the century. After a lengthy ...
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Pablo Heras-Casado has made a mark as a conductor of early and contemporary music, regularly leading the Freiburger Barockorchester in the former. Here, though, he directs the full might of the Münchner Philharmoniker in this survey of Robert Schumann's quintessentially Romantic symphonies. While all four symphonies were popular in the second half of the 19th century, the turn of the 20th century and the movement into modernism were not kind to these works, which suffered neglect for much of the century. After a lengthy dispute with her father, Schumann was finally able to marry Clara Wieck in 1840, the composer's Liederjahr ("Year of Song"), which set the new course for art songs and song cycles. Inspiration struck, and Schumann, with Clara's encouragement, fully ventured into the world of German orchestral music. His "Symphonic Year" of 1841 saw the composer write the bulk of his "Spring" Symphony No. 1 in B flat major, Op. 38, in just four days in January, orchestrating it with some revision...
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