The principal attraction of this release lies in Andy Stein’s arrangement of “Death and the Maiden” for full orchestra (as opposed to, say, Mahler’s transcription for string orchestra). He does a creditable job: the very opening sounds great as an angry tutti, and the Andante benefits from the additional color the full orchestra supplies. Otherwise, however, there’s too little “bad” scoring in true Schubertian style–Schubert’s characterful overuse of trombones, for example–and Stein has some issues distributing themes among the various sections. In the finale, whenever the woodwinds interject with the main theme, the music’s energy evaporates.
It may be that the tepid performances bear much of the blame. In the “Unfinished”, Brian Newbould’s completion of the scherzo always has struck me as a nice piece of pastiche composing, while the Entr’acte No. 1 that serves as the finale is of course vintage Schubert. But nothing happens above mezzo-forte. After a creepy opening, for example, the first-movement development completely lacks terror. Mushy timpani and less-than-assertive brass and winds reduce much of the music to a bland sameness.
Like so many conductors these days, JoAnn Falletta seems somewhat at sea in the German standard repertoire, notwithstanding the interesting twist offered here (which justifies the 7 rating). Still, Schubert fans might want to take the plunge until something better comes along. I don’t understand why no one has tackled the two Divertissements for piano four-hands. Now there’s some first-rate, little-known Schubert that’s ideal for arranging, and because those pieces don’t come loaded with the same intellectual baggage as a symphony or quartet, maybe the arranger would stop worrying about scoring (kind of) like Schubert and just have a good time.
