Album review: Schumann: Scenes From Goethe's Faust
CLASSICAL SCHUMANN: SCENES FROM GOETHE'S FAUST RCO LIVE, £17.60
GOETHE saw in Mozart the ideal composer of Faust-like music, citing his Don Giovanni as evidence. But it was Berlioz, Liszt and Schumann who tackled the subject and it is Schumann's oratorio-like Scenes from Goethe's Faust that features on this rosy disc by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under Nikolaus Harnoncourt. It's not a well-worn work, which makes this easy-flowing account all the more welcome. Harnoncourt gives magical breathing space to the many operatic moments (the gorgeous Sunrise music, for instance), without labouring Schumann's occasionally overwrought score. The many soloists are well appointed and well integrated, pungently supported by the Netherlands Radio and Children's choirs. This is a useful introduction to the work.
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Monday 13 February 2012
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