SCHUMANN TAR LONDON PROMS MED STORM

Ivan Hewett, The Daily Telegraph, 24 August 2010

Classical and Romantic styles blurred disconcertingly in the Moderato-Allegro of Schumann's Zwickau Symphony (one of only two movements to survive), its orchestration treacherously top-heavy, an Alpine climb made while wearing velvet slippers. His Second Symphony was infused with light, a great gasp of Alpine air, any fraying at the edges of articulation the result of enthusiasm rather than torpor. Dausgaard conducted a vivacious, mercurial Scherzo filled with Beethovenian vigour and Schubertian fizz, while the shimmering trills and radiant arcs of the Adagio unfolded over a blissful, lilting accompaniment.

Anna Picard, The Independent on Sunday, 29 August 2010

... the transparent, monumental, rhythmically obsessive Second Symphony gripped me in this lean, intelligent account in every bar.

Paul Driver, The Sunday Times, 29 August 2010

Two of Schumann's symphonies – the Second, and the incomplete torso known as the Zwickau – were placed alongside the UK premiere of Albert Schnelzer's A Freak in Burbank, a witty, malign little scherzo inspired by the childhood and films of Tim Burton; the piece reveals an exceptional flair for orchestral virtuosity on the part of its composer. Dausgaard and his orchestra, meanwhile, have made a speciality of Schumann of late. The Second Symphony was written during recovery from a breakdown; Dausgaard probed its erratic structure and jolting mood swings with psychotherapeutic understanding, and the Swedish CO's sound, clear yet grainy, precluded any thought of self-conscious sentimentality or comfort. Excellent.

Tim Ashley, The Guardian, 24 August 2010

The Swedish Chamber Orchestra brought clarity and litheness to Schumann, deploying their modestly sized forces to excellent effect. Using a relatively small body of strings and natural trumpets to add sinew, Thomas Dausgaard drew a sharply profiled, exhilarating account of the Second Symphony.

Less often heard is Schumann’s earlier Symphony in G minor (“Zwickau”), of which only two movements were completed. Dausgaard, conducting from memory, clearly believes in the first movement and made a strong case for it with a bracing performance.

Barry Millington, The Evening Standard, 24 August 2010

Roused into action, the Swedish players under their chief conductor, Thomas Dausgaard, ended with a bracing performance of Schumann’s Symphony No 2 that stripped the fat away to find a lean, energetic work.

Richard Fairman, The Financial Times, 25 August, 2010

I can’t recall a better, more spirited, or indeed more interesting performance of any Schumann symphony than Dausgaard’s of the C major, No 2, and it absolutely deserved a full house …The Schumann orchestral problem is the modern tendency to overload the strings. But Dausgaard’s is a genuine chamber orchestra; he sits only four cellos, three basses, violins and violas to match, and he makes his wind sections articulate crisply and with a bright, edgy sound. This does Schumann a power of good, and suddenly makes his music dance.

The Scherzo and finale of this marvellous C major symphony sprang to life in the most vivid, sparkling fashion, and though there were a few balance problems, they were nothing compared to the impenetrable thickness of the traditional, but obviously incorrect, Schumann sound. The slow movement, one of the most exquisite inventions of early Romanticism, also for once breathed, without the sobbing vibrato that modern violinists like to ladle on to it. All this was wonderfully stimulating and enjoyable.

Stephen Walsh, Artsdesk.com, 24 August 2010

The Royal Albert Hall can sometimes be an unforgiving venue for a chamber orchestra, the tone thin, the sound underpowered. This performance by the Swedish Chamber Orchestra showed that this need not be the case. In his second appearance at the 2010 Proms Thomas Dausgaard here presented another intriguing programme sandwiching Berlioz’s “Les nuits d’été” and a contemporary piece in between Schumann symphonic works. Strange programming, maybe, but each of the pieces has a melancholy that knitted them together. All have moments of exuberance and quirkiness too and these were brought to vivid and energetic life by Dausgaard and his orchestra with rhythmic precision and fine control of dynamic and texture.

www.classicalsource.com, 24 August 2010

Schumann's Symphonies don't usually pull in the crowds, but Nina Stemme does. Ironically, Schumann emerged the star of Prom 51.

Conventionally, Schumann symphonies have been marinated in the rubato-rich juices of Late Romantic lushness. Thomas Daugaard's approach is to dispense with the veneer of received performance practice, and go back to what the music might have meant to the composer himself. Earlier Romantic, then, lit by the free spirited clarity of Nature. Hearing Schumann in the context of his world is perhaps  the key to understanding his music, rather than hearing him through Wagnerian and big-orchestra filters.

Although the Swedish Chamber Orchestra Örebro (birthplace of Jussi Björling) isn't a period orchestra, there's no reason why they can't play informed by period practice.  Hence the natural horns, evoking the woods around cities in Schumann's times, and the sounds of posthorns in the towns. Tighter. lighter textures. With Dausgaard, Schumann flies, and the true adventure in his music is freed.

Classicaliconoclast.com, 25 August 2010

Nina Stemme may have been the big draw, but Schumann was the real star in this lively Prom, conducted by Thomas Dausgaard.

Dausgaard conducted luminous Sibelius, Ligeti and Langgaard with the Swedish National Orchestra in Prom 35. With the smaller Swedish Chamber Orchestra he can get even lighter, brighter textures which suit Schumann perfectly. Schumann flies, with Dausgaard, bringing out the true adventure in his music.

Anne Ozoriuo, www.musicomh.com, 23 August 2010