Yannick Nézet-Séguin gives exciting readings of Schumann's Symphonies, recorded live in Paris. It has often been said of Schumann that he had no talent as an orchestrator. Nézet-Séguin notes, however, that the problems of Schumann's orchestral works disappear when the right means are used: a smaller ensemble, lighter trumpets and horns, etc. The result is: the performances sound remarkably agile
… and transparent. Sometimes Nézet-Séguin puts a lot of emphasis on Schumann's supposed bipolar disorder. Especially the Second Symphony - the symphony that had the most status in Schumann's time - sometimes comes across as very manic. In any case, it is not customary to interpret a work of art purely reductionistically from the biography of the maker; we have also unlearned Kafka's novels purely autobiographical, to interpret Marxist-Leninist, Freudian or existentialist. Schumann's ambitious Second Symphony therefore has its own logic and wave action, regardless of the composer's mental state. But let's be honest: in the Third Symphony, 'Rheinische', Nézet-Séguin's energetic approach is very convincing. (HJ)more
