Jordi Savall, Le Concert Des Nations – Schubert: Symphonies Nos. 8 & 9 (2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/88,2kHz]

Jordi Savall, Le Concert Des Nations – Schubert: Symphonies Nos. 8 & 9 (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 01:25:56 minutes | 1,42 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Alia Vox

Jordi Savall releases his first Schubert album, following a recording of Beethoven’s complete symphonies which largely contributed to renew our vision of the early Romantic repertoire. The Catalan maestro delivers a recording freed from the weight of past traditions to underline the dynamics, the section balance and the timbres that are required in this repertoire. Jordi Savall decided to entitle this album Transfiguration, because, as he explains, we are always astonished at Schubert’s ability to reach this essentially internal and spiritual dimension, this kind of Transfiguration, which he simply sums up as follows in his diary in 1824: ‘My production is the result of my musical knowledge and my pain’ or, to quote a poem he wrote a little earlier: ‘When I wanted to sing love, it turned into pain. When I wanted to sing pain, it turned into love.’

All Baroque roads lead to Romanticism, and Jordi Savall knows this all too well. His rendition of the Beethoven Symphonies revisits the original manuscripts, dynamics, tempos and instruments, and Savall enacts this same approach with Franz Schubert, who died a few months after the great German composer. With this recording, made in September 2021 in the collegiate church of Cardona in Catalonia, the valiant octogenarian brings his own spiritual vision to Schubert. This is further affirmed by the album’s title: Transfiguration.

The Catalan violinist is, above all, a humanist and a lyricist, two qualities that resonate particularly well with the music and spirit of Franz. Savall graces us with a vision of the Unfinished Symphony that contemplates the infinite without ever feeling heavy, instead turning towards the inner light.

Music served as a vessel for Schubert, an outlet for his existential pain. Throughout his work, which culminates in the Ninth Symphony in C major, the Viennese composer expresses his aspiration for a youth freed from the inexorable presence of illness. This zest for life finds a particular resonance here in Jordi Savall’s poignant vision of the last two symphonies. Savall provides much more than just another version, creating an interpretation that penetrates deep into the depths of Schubert’s distress, whilst still maintaining the lively desire for brotherhood that also fills the composer’s great creations. – François Hudry

Tracklist:

1-01. Jordi Savall – Symphony No. 8 in B Minor, D. 759 ‘Unfinished’: I. Allegro moderato (14:41)
1-02. Jordi Savall – Symphony No. 8 in B Minor, D. 759 ‘Unfinished’: II. Andante con moto (09:57)
1-03. Jordi Savall – Symphony No. 9 in C Major D. 944 ‘The Great’: I. Andante · Allegro ma non troppo – Più mosso (15:26)
1-04. Jordi Savall – Symphony No. 9 in C Major D. 944 ‘The Great’: II. Andante con moto (13:55)
1-05. Jordi Savall – Symphony No. 9 in C Major D. 944 ‘The Great’: III. Allegro vivace – Trio – Scherzo da capo (16:27)
1-06. Jordi Savall – Symphony No. 9 in C Major D. 944 ‘The Great’: IV. Allegro vivace (15:27)

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