Franz Schmidt; Richard Strauss - Symphony No. 2; Dreaming by the Fireside (Semyon Bychkov)

Information

Composer: Franz Schmidt; Richard Strauss

1. Schmidt - Symphony No. 2 in E flat major: I. Lebhaft
2. Schmidt - Symphony No. 2 in E flat major: II. Allegretto con variazioni. Einfach und zart
3. Schmidt - Symphony No. 2 in E flat major: III. Finale. Langsam
4. Strauss - Träumerei am Kamin (symphonic interlude from 'Intermezzo')

Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Semyon Bychkov, conductor

Date: 2017
Label: Sony Classical

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Review

Semyon Bychkov and the Vienna Philharmonic brought Franz Schmidt’s Second Symphony to the BBC Proms in September 2015, only a matter of days after making this recording in Vienna’s Musikverein. It’s as apparent here as much as it was in that concert the amount of affection with which both orchestra and conductor approach the work. And the recording suggests that even the Musikverein itself, sounding cushioned and clear, is holding the piece in a warm embrace – perhaps rather a little too warm in Sony’s smooth engineering.

The booklet reminds us of Schmidt’s many roles in Viennese musical life of the first half of the 20th century (including as a cellist in the opera house orchestra under Mahler), and of the fact that his status as a pillar of the musical establishment there perhaps amplified some critical views from beyond the Austrian capital. The damaging assessment of him as having been big on craftsmanship but rather short on inspiration, for example, has stuck.

And initially the Second Symphony of 1913 might seem to back it up. It’s an essentially sunny and pastoral work of shifting, beautifully dappled colours. There are disparate hints of Strauss, Reger, Bruckner and others, as well a couple of passages that look forward to the intense string-writing of Schmidt’s famous Intermezzo from Notre Dame, composed the following year.

But the piece takes a meandering course through a series of musical vistas that never quite seem to have time to develop into anything immediately concrete. And this effect seems to be emphasised by the performance here, which, unlike Neeme Järvi’s more robust account with the Chicago Symphony (Chandos), determinedly lets the music develop at its own pace: Bychkov is not a conductor to seek out cheap thrills.

With each listen, though, I found myself worrying less about Schmidt’s elusive, elliptical way with melody, or the fact that he presents climaxes that seem never to really offer answers. With this recording, one starts to admire what he achieves with the variations on his not terribly promising theme in the second movement, for example, and the slow-burn momentum of the initially underwhelming finale.

Whether the subtle seductiveness of the Viennese orchestra serves him better than the brassier, more forthright approach of the Chicago players might be down to personal taste, but this new recording makes a persuasive case for a work of considerable beauty. It’s an important addition to the catalogue. A gentle, tender account of Strauss’s most famous Intermezzo interlude makes a charming if hardly generous coupling.

-- Hugo Shirley, Gramophone

More reviews:
https://www.classicstoday.com/review/bychkov-viennas-soft-edged-schmidt/
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2017/Jun/Schmidt_sy2_88985355522.htm
https://www.ft.com/content/e3619b84-390f-11e7-ac89-b01cc67cfeec
https://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/reviews/franz-schmidt-symphony-no-2-vienna-philharmonicbychkov/
https://www.audaud.com/franz-schmidt-symphony-r-strauss-intermezzo-excerpt-vienna-phil-orch-semyon-bychkov-sony/

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Franz Schmidt (22 December 1874 – 11 February 1939) was an Austrian composer, cellist and pianist. He studied at the Vienna Conservatory with Robert Fuchs, Ferdinand Hellmesberger and Anton Bruckner. As a composer, Schmidt was slow to develop, but his reputation, at least in Austria, saw a steady growth from the late 1890s until his death in 1939. In his music, Schmidt continued to develop the Viennese classic-romantic traditions he inherited from Schubert, Brahms and his own master, Bruckner. As a teacher, Schmidt trained numerous musicians, conductors and composers who later achieved fame.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Schmidt

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Richard Strauss (11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, lieder, tone poems and other orchestral works. Strauss was also a prominent conductor throughout Germany and Austria, enjoying quasi-celebrity status as his compositions became standards of orchestral and operatic repertoire. Strauss made a large number of recordings, both of his own music as well as music by German and Austrian composers. Along with Gustav Mahler, Strauss represents the late flowering of German Romanticism after Richard Wagner.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Strauss

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Semyon Bychkov (born November 30, 1952 in Leningrad, now Saint Petersburg) is a Soviet-born conductor. His younger brother was Yakov Kreizberg, also a conductor. Bychkov studied at the Glinka Choir School for ten years before moving to the Leningrad Conservatory where he was a student of Ilya Musin. He emigrated to the United States in 1975, then attended and graduated the Mannes School of Music. Bychkov was music director of the Orchestre de Paris (1989-98), the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne (1997-2010), and is currently chief conductor and music director of the Czech Philharmonic.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semyon_Bychkov_(conductor)
https://www.semyonbychkov.com/

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