In the early symphonies, Böhm’s approach is simpler-seeming and more direct. The celebrated 1963 Ninth out-Furtwänglers Furtwängler in the myriad means it uses within a single grand design to capture the symphony’s sense of danger and derring-do in addition to its lyricism, nobility and earthy Austrian charm. Conversely, the second movement seems swift but brings the work full circle, with an equally extraordinary sense of calm and catharsis in the final pages. The Unfinished begins in what seems to be a leisurely fashion but his performance of the first movement catches Schubert’s mix of lyricism and high drama with extraordinary acuity.
His way with the two late symphonies is, in fact, highly sophisticated. Böhm never feels the need to do anything clever but just quietly sees to it that this superb orchestra plays at its best. The Berliners’ art is the art that disguises art.
The recordings, too, still seem new-minted, even the Ninth, the first of the symphonies to be recorded. These are marvellous performances: vibrant, clear, characterful and effortlessly well played. So if you want to hear Schubert performance at its best, this list is the perfect place to start.Īpple Music subscribers can enjoy the Schubert: Greatest Recordings playlist that accompanies this feature.īerlin Philharmonic Orchestra / Karl Böhm All of these lists are, of course, subjective, but every recording here has received the approval of Gramophone's critics and are artistic and musical benchmarks. The list begins with orchestral works, then moves through chamber and instrumental, and finishes with vocal. To find out more about subscribing to the Database, visit: .uk/subscribe.
We have tried to give a recommendation for every major work and we have included, where possible, the complete original Gramophone reviews, which are drawn from Gramophone's Reviews Database of more than 45,000 reviews. As before, we've focused on Gramophone Award-winning albums, Recordings of the Month, Editor's Choice discs and legendary earlier recordings from the likes of Artur Schnabel, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Paul Lewis, Bryn Terfel, Ian Bostridge, Karl Böhm and many more. A warm welcome to Gramophone's guide to the 50 greatest Schubert recordings, which now joins our similar guides to the music of Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, Chopin and Handel.
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