Raff - Symphony No. 8

[FBerwald]

As is the case, the popularity of a certain piece tends to overshadow other worthwhile works - The sheer brilliance and beauty of Raff's Im Walde & Lenore [in my linear "hearing" off Raff's symphonies] some how deadened my ears to the symphonies from No. 6 onwards. I repeatedly came back to No. 3 & 5 [especially after the fascinating reading of 5 by Järvi]; So it was  with great pleasure that I encountered the Frühlingsklänge Symphony recently "with fresh ears". The 1st 2 movements have left a considerable impression - The 1st movement with the slow rumbling spring awakening building up to the magnificent torso brimming with so many beautiful ideas and passages and the quirky and bizarre scherzo with unexpected melodic and harmonic twists and turns - I agree with the reviewers on Raff.org that the 2 recordings by CPO & TUDOR fail the piece tremendously especially in the 1st movement. W. A. Albert and the Philharmonia Hungarica sound very rough and at times like a high-school Orchestra [rehearsal!]; Hans Stadlmair and the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra have a more polished sound but have a fast tempo that had me wishing that they would slow down many times as I wanted to listen to the "Sound within the sound" in many intricate passages.

No doubt, there is powerful stuff within the pages of Frühlingsklänge, but my question is has anyone here heard [or heard of] a compelling reading of this beautiful symphony. If we need a new reading of any symphony, it is certainly THIS ONE!

[Alan Howe]

You could try Schneider/Marco Polo:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Raff-Symphonies-Nos-8-9/dp/B001LYFTP0/ref=sr_1_1?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1464765459&sr=1-1-mp3-albums-bar-strip-0&keywords=raff+symphony+8

[Mark Thomas]

The first movement of Frühlingsklänge is amongst Raff's finest creations I think, and if the three that follow are on a slightly lower level of inspiration it is only slightly lower. That said, Raff's Eighth hasn't been well served on CD for some reason. You're right, the fast tempi are a miscalculation by Stadlmair and, although Albert's interpretation is much better, the NDR orchestra and cpo's sound are both uncharacteristically rough. I don't think that the answer is Schneider's old performance from Marco Polo, although this can be downloaded cheaply enough to give it a try. His Slovak orchestra isn't up to much, I find his tempo choices wayward and his phrasing tends to trivialise. There is a fourth recording, although you'll be hard pressed to track down a copy: Gyorgy Lehel conducting the Basel Radio Symphony Orchestra, originally on Ex Libris and then re-issued by Tudor before they began the Stadlmair cycle. Unfortunately if you do find it, you'll be rewarded by a very laboured performance, which works only in the slow movement. For me, unsatisfactory though it is, the performance which works best is the cpo one because, for all its faults, at least Albert's interpretation gets nearest to what I think Raff intended. What a shame that we probably won't hear Järvi's Frühlingsklänge!

[FBerwald]

More the pity since I can see many work's recorded by public funding... this symphony certainly deserves a decent outing. Sorry to sound so vehement but I have [obviously] fallen in love with this work and the 1st movement keeps running in my head more often than not. 

[adriano]

I adore it too 

[Mark Thomas]

the 1st movement keeps running in my head

The first movement of the 9th Im Sommer is just as powerful and effective, and that symphony also has a wonderful evocation of Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream in the second movement.

[Alan Howe]

I rather like Schneider. Go on: give him a try! For £6.50 you can download the 8th and 9th here:
http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Marco%2BPolo/8223362#download

[Justin]

The aforementioned Schneider recording is being reissued on Naxos and will be available on July 28th. I don't expect any change in sound quality but I much prefer the cover. Ferdinand Hodler drives me nuts.



https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/9499697--raff-symphonies-nos-8-9

[John Boyer]

I've slowly brought all my Schneiders back from retirement. Whatever their faults, I began to realize they really were perfectly competitive alternatives to the later recordings, possessing details of interpretation I could not live without. Curiously, only his 8th and 9th still rest in retirement, and that only because of the cut that he takes in the finale of the 9th, my favorite of the Raff symphonies.

[Alan Howe]

I've always liked them. Rather more than merely competent, I've always felt.

[Ilja]

I'm a bit torn about the 8th; I fully agree with the assessment of the first movement expressed here, but for me the Walpurgisnacht is also very strong, possibly my favorite central fast movement by Raff. In fact, I think it may be a bit too individual, which doesn't help the sense of coherence in the work, particularly as the subsequent movement sounds a tad inconsequential by comparison. The finale, I think, is not among Raff's best but still perfectly serviceable. It's still among my favorite Raff symphonies though, even more than the 9th, even if that holds together a bit better.

[Mark Thomas]

I too have a particular fondness for Fruhlingsklänge but it's a great shame that none of the recordings is wholly satisfactory. It's a difficult work, though. The first movement tends to come off best and indeed I think it's one of Raff's most successful and satisfying symphonic openings. Contemporary critics had doubts about the finale, not appreciating that Raff portrayed the sense of nervous energy he always felt at the onset of spring - it's not meant to be a joyous celebration. It's tricky and I'm not sure that anyone gets it right. The two middle movements are more descriptive than symphonic and present another problem for conductors achieving a coherant approach to the work. Although I'm less enthusiastic about Schneider's Raff cycle overall than some, I do think that in the 8th he is at his best

[eschiss1]

Wasn't the 8th or 9th performed live sometime in the last year or so?

[John Boyer]

Contemporary critics had doubts about the finale, not appreciating that Raff portrayed the sense of nervous energy he always felt at the onset of spring - it's not meant to be a joyous celebration. It's tricky and I'm not sure that anyone gets it right.

Then I must restore this one from retirement, too.  I have never warmed to the finale of the 8th, which for me doesn't live up to what preceded it. Perhaps, on rehearing, Schneider will convince me otherwise.  His treatment of the 9th's scherzo beats the competition, as does his handling of the first movement of the 11th (another work laboring under "the finale problem").

[kolaboy]

I've had the Ex Libris recordings of 8 & 9 for 30 years or so, and - for me - they're tough to get through. They show up and play the notes, but not much more.