Special offer. Schubert: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 6
B’Rock Orchestra, René Jacobs
These performances of youthful Schubert symphonies are nothing if not thought-provoking. Certainly, there are imaginative touches…but many of Jacobs’s tempos are so hard-driven that the music’s...
Special offer. Schubert: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 6
B’Rock Orchestra, René Jacobs
Purchase product
These performances of youthful Schubert symphonies are nothing if not thought-provoking. Certainly, there are imaginative touches…but many of Jacobs’s tempos are so hard-driven that the music’s...
About
On his first album released on PENTATONE, multiple prizewinning conductor René Jacobs finally records Schubert, his first great musical love. Jacobs delivers his fresh perspective on the favourite composer of his youth together with the exceptional players of the B’Rock Orchestra, acclaimed for their inspired playing, musical curiosity and original approach to the classics.
The album contains Schubert’s First and Sixth symphonies, written when he was still a teenager. With this recording, Jacobs and the B’Rock Orchestra lift out the maturity and depth of these two early works. Whereas the First has a more classical, bubbly quality, the Sixth shows Schubert’s inclination to musical Romanticism. At the same time, these symphonies have much in common: both display humour and joie de vivre, with “carnivalesque” allusions to early nineteenth-century Italian opera, but behind the happy façade lies a deeper layer, full of melancholy and bitterness. In that respect, these works fully capture Schubert’s personal life: that of a social, lively man, plagued by the knowledge of his fatal illness. They are performed on period instruments, transparent, but full of fire.
Contents and tracklist
- B'Rock
- René Jacobs
- Recorded: March 2018
- Recording Venue: Saal Innsbruck, Congress Messe Innsbruck
- B'Rock
- René Jacobs
- Recorded: March 2018
- Recording Venue: Saal Innsbruck, Congress Messe Innsbruck
Awards and reviews
January 2019
These performances of youthful Schubert symphonies are nothing if not thought-provoking. Certainly, there are imaginative touches…but many of Jacobs’s tempos are so hard-driven that the music’s essential charm, to say nothing of its clarity, is lost.
29th October 2018
The textures and tempi are bracing, the balance of woodwinds and strings favourable to the “soloists”, while the wit of the fast movements and forward momentum of the andantes are utterly infectious.
23rd November 2018
Big joys include the sprightly wind playing, fleet tempos and Jacobs’s sense of drama, with themes and instruments treated as characters in a play. Musically, Mozart, Beethoven and Rossini are easily spotted, but Schubert remains Schubert: mercurial, conflicted, cheerful, sad. With the help of Jacobs and the orchestra we listen to it all with new insights, new ears.
Classical Music February 2019
Two of Schubert’s lesser-known symphonies get the championship they deserve in René Jacob’s supremely stylistically informed performances; incredibly detailed booklet notes complement the all-round care here. This is period instrument performance at the very highest standard, and a fine launch to Jacobs’ complete cycle.
Record Review 17th November 2018
Interesting sounds, I've rarely heard the sound scherzo of the 6th Symphony sounding quite so Beethovenian...I love the pungent bravery of the playing and the contrast between the scherzo and rustic trio.
