B’Rock Orchestra

B’Rock Orchestra, René Jacobs – Schubert: Symphony No. 8 in B Minor, D. 759 “Unfinished” & Symphony No. 9 in C Major, D. 944 “The Great” (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 01:27:45 minutes | 3,21 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © PentaTone

Multiple prize-winning conductor René Jacobs and the B’Rock Orchestra complete their Schubert cycle on Pentatone with the composer’s two most famous symphonies, the Unfinished and Great. In his extensive liner notes, Jacobs develops a theory that the B Minor Symphony did not remain “unfinished”, but was deliberately left unfinished, because Schubert shaped its two movements in analogy to Mein Traum (My Dream), an autobiographical narration in two parts, written in 1822, simultaneous to the creation of the symphony. While the first half of Mein Traum tells about his mother’s decease and his problematic relationship to his father, the second part enters a magical, Romantic realm, and eventually brings a reconciliation with his father. On this recording, the two parts of the narration precede the two movements of the Unfinished symphony, and are recited by Tobias Moretti. Jacobs argues that, after the dream-inspired Unfinished, the Great C Major Symphony, with its solemn character and sublime dimensions, served as a liberation for Schubert. Presenting these contrasting works forms a fitting apotheosis to a cycle that has been designed from the onset as a series of symphonic pairs. The players of the B’Rock Orchestra present these works on period instruments; transparent, but full of fire.
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B’Rock Orchestra, René Jacobs – Schubert: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3 (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 55:20 minutes | 1013 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © PentaTone

Multiple prize-winning conductor René Jacobs and the B’Rock Orchestra continue their Schubert cycle with a recording of the composer’s Second and Third Symphony. Jacobs approaches these pieces as a symphonic pair revealing contrasting aspects of Schubert’s personality and compositional approach; the former being serious, ambitious, aiming to “outdo” Beethoven, while the latter is deliberately un-heroic: light, lyrical, and full of Italianizing elements. Interestingly, Jacobs discerns a comparable tandem approach in Schubert’s Fourth and Fifth Symphonies, which will form the next episode of this recording project. The players of the B’Rock Orchestra present these works on period instruments, transparent, but full of fire.
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B’Rock Orchestra, René Jacobs – Schubert: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5 (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 59:22 minutes | 2,03 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © PentaTone

Tragic and light symphonies from a heavy soul. Conductor Ren’e Jacobs and the B’Rock Orchestra present the third instalment of their Schubert cycle with a recording of the composer’s Fourth and Fifth Symphony. Just as with the Second and Third, Jacobs approaches these works as a symphonic pair, revealing contrasting aspects of Schubert’s personality and compositional approach. The Fourth is Schubert’s first symphony in a minor key, and adumbrates a totally new harmonic worldview that Dvor’ak associated with Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde. On the contrary, the Fifth sounds Mozartian and cheerful, although that light-heartedness is only an appearance, as is so often the case in Schubert’s music. In the composer’s words, “too light a mind usually harbours a heart that is too heavy!” Looking closer beneath the surface, the cross-relations between the “Tragic” Fourth and “lighter” Fifth become all the more evident. The players of the B’Rock Orchestra present these works on period instruments; transparent, but full of fire.
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