Schumann with his romantic wings clipped was my first reaction, or, to put it another way: Schumann as a man of his own time, not interpreted with the hindsight of later developments. One thinks of the Scherzo of the Fourth, almost Mozartian in its slender profile and contemplates with bewilderment the enormous gulf that exists between this approach and, say, Karajan's in any of his three recordings (see page 739). Small-scale Schumann, then, with no attempt made to match the body of tone available in Berlin, Vienna or Dresden, and none the worse for that. Take the cellos' statement of the main theme in the Larghetto of the First Symphony: it is clear that one is not listening to the plushiest sounding cello section in the world, but how lovingly the theme is shaded and phrased. There's no lack of power either, when it is summoned: treasurable indeed is the violins' attack of their first note of the opening flourish from the finale of the Spring Symphony, or the proud resolve of the marcato horns in the development section of the Fourth's finale.
Zinman's Spring Symphony is very fine. There is abundant energy at brisk tempos, with the whole orchestra alert to the work's positive mood. I particularly enjoyed the galloping timpani at the end of the first movement's exposition (a feature in Sawallisch's account on mid-price EMI, as well) and the bold horns at the start of the recapitulation (the merrymaking urgently renewed). Very affecting, too, is the strings' radiant singing of the new theme that offers a moment's response in this movement's coda. Zinman encourages a lovely vibrato from his violins in the Larghetto's opening statement and the expressiveness never cloys. Here one admires the smooth blend of the Baltimore woodwinds, the silvery tone of the flutes (superbly caught by the recording) always enlivening the textures. Zinman may be less grazioso than Sawallisch in the finale or less artful than Karajan in ensuring proper prominence for woodwind detail but the invigorating drive is very compelling and the closing pages powerfully affirmative.
Would that some of the energy of Zinman's Spring Symphony had found its way into the Fourth's first movement. The patient unfolding of the exposition material works well enough, but the new chordal theme in the development sounds polite rather than challenging. Similarly, in the finale, the mind applauds the relevance of the easygoing Schubertian motion, but the spirit craves something more urgent, more determined—qualities that Sawallisch and Dohnanyi (Decca) supply in abundance. It should be obvious by now, but it has to be said, that the finale's introductory ''darkness before dawn'' (Tovey) is far less of a majestic awakening than either Sawallisch's or Karajan's.
Telarc's close-up sound is vivid, if a little airless at times. Especially present trombones generally manage to avoid making the balance brass-heavy, though woodwind are occasionally masked. Full credit to the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra for surviving the close scrutiny of the microphones with such accomplishment.'