A disappointment after Chailly's fine companion disc of the Spring and Fourth Symphonies (12/90). The ''capricious and obstinate'' struggles of the Second Symphony's first movement seem, to me, tempered by an Allegro perhaps a little too non troppo for its obsessive rhythms to make their cumulative effect; by some unmarked slowings (at structural points) in a movement which, like its successor, shouldn't really pause for breath, and by some fussy alterations of dynamics. A particularly curious example of that last complaint turns up in the finale (at 4'57''), where a marked crescendo in progress is interrupted to begin the process over again. Why? There were instances of dynamic adjustments in Chailly's Fourth Symphony, but they were short-term ones to serve clarity of texture. I shouldn't labour the point, as Schumann's symphonies over the decades have been fair game for all manner of far more serious 'improvements' from the likes of Mahler, Toscanini and Reiner (and, more recently, Rozhdestvensky).
If I have started by nit picking, it is because neither of these performances really catches fire, or the imagination. Like Giulini, the first movement of Chailly's Rhenish is firmly massive at a slow tempo but, lacking Giulini's longer stride, singing line and wider range of dynamics, it outstays its welcome. I wonder if Decca's very full and detailed sound highlights the absence of really soft playing in this movement, and in the following Scherzo's Trio (horns and woodwind evoking distant legends, a magical passage—who said Schumann couldn't orchestrate?). Naturally this orchestra and acoustic combine for a grand and solemn sound in the fourth movement's cathedral polyphony, but again the strings and woodwind (at 4'09'') might have managed a more hushed pianissimo response to the first summons. The carefree, outdoors manner and fresh detailing of the finale are a happy reminder of the Chailly of the Spring Symphony. Sawallisch (mid-price EMI) and Levine (full-price DG) have been my reference for these two symphonies, and remain the top recommendations.'