Wilhelm August Rider’s 1825 watercolor portrait of Franz Schubert (from a Wikimedia Web page, public domain)
Once again, the adjective “skimpy” arises in the Warner Classics box set of performances by conductor Bruno Walter. This time it involves a single CD for Franz Schubert. The good news is that most of the album is devoted to the last of the composer’s two symphonies, D. 759, known as the “Unfinished,” since it has only two movements, and the four-movement D. 944, named “The Great.” These two performances are separated by D. 797, two sets of ballet music to be included in the performance of Rosamunde, a play by Helmina von Chézy.
Walter conducted the recording of D. 944 in 1938, which was also the year in which he also recorded the Rosamunde music. He led the London Symphony Orchestra for these performance. The account of D. 759 is earlier, having been recorded in May of 1936 with the Vienna Philharmonic. In spite of the early technology, all of the tracks were remastered to provide engagingly clear accounts. Mind you, I still live by Leonard Slatkin’s precept: “You can never conduct enough Haydn or Schubert;” but, where the recordings are made with early technology, I was definitely impressed with the quality of the sound, even if the quantity was far less than I would have preferred!
