# 100 Favorites: # 77



## JACE (Jul 18, 2014)

*Schumann: Symphonies Nos. 1 - 4	
James Levine, Philadelphia Orchestra (RCA/Sony)*










I have you fine folks here on TC to thank for this one. I discovered these Schumann/Levine/Philadelphia Orchestra recordings just last year, after several of you here on the board raved about them. Unfortunately, this set is out-of-print and fetching high prices on amazon -- roughly $30 from re-sellers, which is particularly galling because the set probably retailed for $10 when it was in print. I managed to find a reasonably-priced set on eBay. I'm GLAD I did.

Levine's accounts remind me a bit of Szell's famous Schumann symphony recordings -- but I think Levine's set is even more dramatic and thrusting. I love the big-boned, heart-on-the-sleeve romanticism of Levine's approach. It's an interpretation that meshes perfectly with the lush sound of the Philadelphians. I'm particularly smitten with Levine's accounts of the Second and Fourth Symphonies. That said, there's not one lapse in this whole set. More than any other versions that I've heard, these recordings convince me that Schumann's symphonies are "great works" -- and no excuses need to be made for them.


----------

