Darkness Into Light

I'm very happy to have this BBC Music mag cover disk of works by Shumann. The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Martyn Brabbins play the Piano Concerto with pianist Lars Vogt and the BBC Philharmonic under Gianandrea Noseda perform Symphony No 2. As is often the case with Schumann, there are many subtexts and background stories to the Piano Concerto concerning his mental health and wife Clara. The first movement was written prior to a periodic bout of severe depression and the other two movements during subsequent recovery. A mix between intimacy and display, it is a deservedly popular piece and Vogt is an emerging soloist who gives a fine live performance. Schumann's symphonies have a reputation for not quite being of the first rank and for his struggle to "do" orchestration but to my inexpert ears these opinions are unduly harsh. Symphony No 2 has a repeated motif that I find powerful rather than overdone and written as it was during another bout of despair, it is another example of the classic Beethovenian symphonic concept of a journey from darkness back into light. The playing of the BBC Phil confirm their current status as the BBC's top band, with Noseda proving an inspiring principle conductor.