Schumann: Symphonies 1 & 2 Stavanger Symphony Orchestra & Jan Willem de Vriend

• Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856): Symphony No. 1 in B-Flat Major, Op. 38:
• 1 Schumann: Symphony No. 1 in B-Flat Major, Op. 38: I. Andante poco maestoso - Allegro molto vivace 11:24
• 2 Schumann: Symphony No. 1 in B-Flat Major, Op. 38: II. Larghetto 06:00
• 3 Schumann: Symphony No. 1 in B-Flat Major, Op. 38: III. Scherzo - Molto vivace 05:43
• 4 Schumann: Symphony No. 1 in B-Flat Major, Op. 38: IV. Allegro animato e grazioso 08:15
• Symphony No. 2 in C Major, Op. 61:
• 5 Schumann: Symphony No. 2 in C Major, Op. 61: I. Sostenuto assai - Allegro ma non troppo 11:57
• 6 Schumann: Symphony No. 2 in C Major, Op. 61: II. Scherzo - Allegro vivace 07:10
• 7 Schumann: Symphony No. 2 in C Major, Op. 61: III. Adagio espressivo 07:44
• 8 Schumann: Symphony No. 2 in C Major, Op. 61: IV. Allegro molto vivace 08:25
• Total Runtime 01:06:38

Info for Schumann: Symphonies 1 & 2

Jan Willem de Vriend: Working with this orchestra is very special, and I think it has to do with a very old tradition. A long time ago, they invited my colleague, Frans Brüggen, just as he was starting to conduct. He learned the orchestra about the old music style, the way of playing in the time of Mozart, Beethoven, Bach—how they played and how you must approach the music. On his part, Brüggen put something in the orchestra that I would say is now part of their DNA: the flexibility, the curiosity, and the way to approach the music. It’s so special, here in Stavanger. Schumann’s music is to me something unique, because what he’s writing is so personal; on one hand it is sometimes very emotional, but on the other hand, it’s technically perfect. In music, I don’t often find those two elements together.

Stavanger Symphony Orchestra
Jan Willem de Vriend, conductor

Stavanger Symphony Orchestra
The orchestra was founded in 1938 and consists of 85 musicians from 23 different nations. SSO rehearses, records and has its concerts in Fartein Valen in Stavanger concert hall, considered one of the best concert halls in Europe.

The orchestra has been touring in various European countries, Japan and the USA. SSO was nominated for Spellemann in 2018 for Gisle Kverndock’s Symphonic Dances, and recieved two Hedda Awards i 2019, including Best Performance, for The Mute.

Andris Poga is SSO’s Chief Conductor. Tianyi Lu is the orchestra’s current Conductor-in-Residence. Recent guest conductors have included Karina Canellakis, Pablo Heras-Casado, James Gaffigan, Stanislav Kochanovsky, Dalia Stasevska and Vassily Sinaisky. Frans Brüggen was the SSO’s Artistic Director for early music from 1990-1997; Philippe Herreweghe had the same position from 2000 to 2004 and Fabio Biondi from 2006 to 2016. Ever since then, the SSO has continued to work regularly with exponents of historical performance practice including Kristian Bezuidenhout, Andrea Marcon, Jan Willem de Vriend, Matthew Halls, Ottavio Dantone, Riccardo Minasi, among others.

Jan Willem de Vriend
designated “a godsend from the Netherlands” by the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, is driven by the pioneering spirit of historically informed perfomance practice. As music director of the Combattimento Consort Amsterdam, which he founded in 1982, he specialised in repertoire of the 17th and 18th centuries, reviving a wealth of rarely heard works through historically informed performances on modern instruments, praised by Gramophone magazine for their “technical finesse and a lively feeling for characterization”.

An award-winner for his creative contribution to classical music, Jan Willem de Vriend has more than 50,000 followers on Spotify and is in demand as a conductor around the world, appearing regularly with such orchestras as the Royal Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Residentie Orkest Den Haag, Belgian National Orchestra, Tonhalle Zurich, Orchestre National de Lyon, Bergen Philharmonic, Warsaw Philharmonic, the symphony orchestras of Netherlands Radio and Hessischer Rundfunk (Frankfurt Radio Symphony), Melbourne Symphony, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony and Hong Kong Philharmonic. He is Principal Conductor Designate of the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, and Principal Guest Conductor of the City of Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, Principal Guest Conductor of the Stuttgart Philharmonic and Orchestre National de Lille, and former Principal Guest Conductor of the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya and the Brabant Orchestra.

For the Challenge Classics label, de Vriend and the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra have recorded the complete Mendelssohn symphonies and all Beethoven’s symphonies and concertos with, among others, pianist Hannes Minnaar and violinist Liza Ferschtman. De Vriend’s interpretation of the Symphony No 7 prompted Classic FM to admire “a bounding flair that does real justice to the composer’s capacity for joy”. A further landmark of his recorded catalogue is his complete recording of the Schubert symphonies with the Residentie Orkest Den Haag.

De Vriend’s collaborative spirit is equally evident in his work for the stage, notably with opera director Eva Buchmann and Combattimento Consort Amsterdam. In addition to works by Monteverdi, Haydn, Handel and Telemann, their productions in Europe and the USA have included staged versions of Bach’s ‘Hunting’ and ‘Coffee’ Cantatas at the Bachfest Leipzig, and operas by Mozart, Rossini, Verdi and Cherubini, among them Mozart’s Don Giovanni und Rossini’s La gazzetta, both toured in Switzerland. De Vriend has also conducted operatic productions in Amsterdam (with the Nederlandse Reisopera), Barcelona, Strasbourg, Lucerne, Schwetzingen and Bergen.

Booklet for Schumann: Symphonies 1 & 2