Berwald: not as sung as he deserves !

[redieze]

For me,a kind of nordic Berlioz,without the woolly forewords of the boiling Hector (see mad poet of Fantaéstic Sy,Lelio et al),discovered some years ago through a "cd renaissance" (EMICl. Matrix etc.)

[eschiss1]

One can find live performances of his first symphony on YouTube, though, for instance (as well as lots of his chamber music. (Well, mostly his septet and his bassoon concertstück- odd choice since that one's not out of copyright yet I think... (not actually published until rather recently) or is it-- there was a discussion of this recently @ IMSLPforums, hrm. Will re-read it...).) And I recently scanned the first edition (©1911) of his 4th symphony score to IMSLP.

[Alan Howe]

Definitely not as sung as he should be. The symphonies are as fine as any by his contemporaries, but the major orchestras/conductors consistently ignore them.

[eschiss1]

Though the San Francisco symphony is doing the "Sérieuse" January 30, 31 and February 2 2020 under Blomstedt... I agree that is very much an exception. Hopefully it's a beginning, though.

[Alan Howe]

Blomstedt's a notable exception to the rule: he's just recorded Stenhammar 2, of course. Of other major conductors, only Järvi, Ehrling and Markevitch have recorded the symphonies.

Here, by the way, is Blomstedt in No.3, the Singulière:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-imkiSKAKQ4

[alberto]

I would add Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt(two   symphonies) and Antal Dorati (one). And exists a Sinfonie Singuliere conducted by Sergiu Celibidache (with the Swedish Radio Orchestra), 2004 release, series " Great Conductors of the 20th Century".

[eschiss1]

Ah ok, I thought you meant now/lately, not "since they were first published"... (iirc symphony no.4 only received its American premiere in the 1970s.)

[Alan Howe]

I had no idea Schmidt-Isserstedt had recorded Berwald 1 (Sérieuse) and 3 (Singulière):
https://www.prostudiomasters.com/album/page/16795
Fascinating also to hear the great Celi in the Singulière:
https://www.allmusic.com/album/great-conductors-of-the-20th-century-vol-39-sergiu-celibidache-mw0001392956
...and I had definitely missed Dorati in No.2 (Capricieuse):



Thanks for filling out the picture!

[eschiss1]

Two performances of the first symphony are linked from IMSLP: a 1940 recording conducted by Fritz Busch available as a podcast from Swedish Radio, and a recent live performance from Chamber Orchestra of the Springs. (Neither is from a top-rank orchestra as requested, I know, but...)
A search of their archives shows that so far the NYPO has only performed Berwald's septet (in one of its chamber concerts, of course) and that only once, back in 1994.

Of course, there's Ehrling's recording of 3 & 4 with the London Symphony on Decca, a one-off but a wonderful one (I have that in its Bluebell CD reincarnation.) (I believe there's a companion remastered CD with one of the other symphonies and the same orchestra but I haven't heard that yet.) Then there's EMI's Ulf Björlin; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra set...
Some of the Schmidt-Isserstedt recordings also appeared on Nonesuch in the mid-60s I think. (Though that's great conductor, not necessarily? top-rank orchestra (or at least by reputation? Of course, reputation and reality...) so deviating from the subthread? I don't know...)

[semloh]

I have the Naxos set with Okko Kamu - they sound pretty good to me. Naxos has given extensive coverage to Berwald.

[jdperdrix]

I discovered Berwald many years ago  (More than 50! - It was really unsung at the time) thanks to the old label Cygnus: symphonies 1 and 3, quartets and piano quintets (re-issued since as CD by Accord and Nonesuch). Naxos-Marco Polo has published most of Berwald's chamber music, with the exception of the 3 string quartets. For those I have the very enjoyable version by the Yggdrasils (label Bis).

[hyperdanny]

For me Sixten Ehrling's valedictory digital BIS cycle with the Malmo orchestra is definitive: it's played as well as the old cycle, the interpretation is IMHO even better, and the sound is top-notch.
Outside of that, I kept only Blomstedt's Decca twofer, which shines with Blomstedt's special brand of warmth and with wonderful SFO playing,
All the rest, cycles or singles, (Kamu-Naxos , Bolton RPO) has been discarded

[Alan Howe]

I think Ehrling/BIS is probably the best cycle. I also like Dausgaard/Chandos (sane and well played), but I now rarely play Järvi (too rushed) and can't see the point of adding anyone else. There is, of course no 'Blomstedt/Decca twofer' - you must be thinking of Blomstedt's Nielsen cycle on two Decca twofers, although he did record Berwald 1 & 4 on a 'onefer'!

[FBerwald]

Conversely, my favorite Berwald set is by Järvi. I agree he's a tad fast but the he coaxes wild sounds from the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. In comparison the others sound a bit tame (Imho). Roy Goodman's Hyperion set is good but the strings sound weak - The one advantage of that cycle is the inclusion of the 1st movement of the earlier A Major Symphony fragment; a beautiful work.   

[Alan Howe]

I think my metabolism must be slower these days. I often prefer slower. I was blown away by Celibidache's monumentally long Eroica recently.