Schubert: Symphonies, Vol. 5 - Symphony No. 9, Orchestral Songs in Bloomington, MN

This 2025 release closes out a cycle of
Schubert
symphonies from
Edward Gardner
and the
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
. These have generally been well received, with clean touches of historical performance influence setting the performances apart from epic Germanic treatments. In the case of the
Symphony No. 9 in C major, D. 944 ("Great")
, listeners may differ as to the results;
Gardner
emphasizes the wind parts in the manner of period readings, but he takes the energy out of the big outer movements, especially the finale. Listeners can sample that to learn whether the performance carries them along. Better news comes with the first half of the program, consisting of orchestral settings of
songs, plus one vocal item by
himself, from the incidental music to
Rosamunde, D. 797
. These pieces, by
Britten
,
Berlioz
Brahms
, and
Max Reger
, are not exactly unknown, but there is real value in hearing a group of them together like this. Each of them has a knack for revealing the arranger's own personality, from the dry winds of
to the textural complexity of
, and together, they testify to the richness of layers in what may seem like simplicity in
's pieces. Check them out as many others have; the album landed on classical best-seller charts in the spring of 2025. ~ James Manheim