Schubert: Symphonies Nos. 8 "Unfinished" & 9 "The Great"

Customer Rating:
Summary: BERNSTEIN'S BENCHMARK UNFINISHED
Comment: Leonard Bernstein's 1963 New York Philharmonic recording of Schubert's Unfinished Symphony No 8 (as was his version of Schubert's No 5) has long remained a performance by which others are judged. It is simply superb, with a lofty nobility that sets it above virtually all rivals.
Although marred by a final movement which is at too fast a tempo, the 9th Symphony performance is fine as well. What a pity that Bernstein never recorded an integral set of the Schubert Symphonies. This wonderful CD, though, is partial compensation; the Unfinished is truly magnificent.
David Lloyd, Bedford, England.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Schubert 8 and 9th Symphonies - Bernstein, N.Y. Phil.
Comment: Bernstein and the Philharmonic play the 8th in full-blown Romantic pitch. An excellent choice. The Great
C-Major, however, is the jewel in this recording. I probably have more records of Bernstein leading the Philharmonic in my collection than any other interpreters of classical music. Many I like, and others I don't much care for. To me, the C-Major is the best Bernstein I've heard him conduct. I always cherished the old Furtwangler and Toscanni recordings, but Bernstein's hard driving approach and excellent EMI sound quality make this performance not only a bargain but at the top of anyone's list looking for the ultimate in Schubert performance.

Hal Denton, Cookeville, TN

Customer Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Schubert!...
Comment: .
Usually I prefer Bohm and the BPO with Schubert: they bring a Brucknerian reading.

But I've just gotta say that Lenny and the NYP really had some chemistry going on with the realization of Schubert's two great symphonies: one might say they bring a Mahlerian reading to the scores.

Really good.
.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Magnificent! Who would have thought?
Comment: Even though critics never mention them, these readings of the Schubert 'Unfinished' and Sym. #9 could be anybody's first choice. I own a hundred Bernstein CDs and yet had passed this one over, thinking that the performances would be romantically exaggerated and out of style. In fact they are wonderful: propulsive, lyrical, and really focused on the musicality of Schubert. Good, clear recordings in the big NY Phil. style of those days, and except for a punchy ending to the first movement of the Ninth, I was carried along by the buoyancy and joy of Bernstein's approach in every bar.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Marvelous!
Comment: When I first heard (and learnt) of Schubert's symphonies,
that the man who had composed many of the best ensemble
pieces of all time had also composed as many symphonies as
Beethoven, I thought I should stick to his ensemble pieces
and not venture into his orchestra work, thinking that the
understatement and subtlety of his small ensemble composition
would not translate well for large ones. But when I first
listened to the first movement of his 8th, I knew the guy had
mastered the symphony also. His style in these later symphonies
belongs in the romantic era, unlike his earlier symphonies, which
are more distinctly classical.

Bernstein's interpretation is nothing but masterful, but in the first movement of the 8th, I would have liked it more if he had quickened the tempo/pace of the piece. The NY Phil. performs admirably under his baton.