Haydn’s 104th juxtaposes well with Schumann’s Second, the end of the former nicely dovetailing into the beginning of the latter. That Schumann launches his symphony with the same fanfare motive that Haydn uses further underlines the connection between the two works. There’s also a sort of connection between Roger Norrington’s two performances: they both suffer from a certain heaviness, even though the conductor chooses generally rational tempos. The first movement of the Haydn is a case in point. It’s all very legato, with smoothed over accents and softened rhythms that give the impression of sluggishness (though the last two movements are significantly more lively). This is all married to an oddly thin orchestral sound, most likely a carry-over from Norrington’s work with “period” ensembles.
This undernourished orchestral texture is particularly unwelcome in Schumann’s Symphony No. 2, where the strings sound quite wan in the scherzo’s busy runs. Norrington’s “authentic” credentials also show up in the pinched, vibrato-less string playing that robs the beautiful slow movement of much of its warmth. The leaden-foot feeling returns in the finale, another victim of Norrington’s aforementioned rhythmic dullness (despite some very prominent horn triplets). A far more engaging Schumann second is Thielmann’s with the Philharmonia on Deutsche Grammophon, though other great performances abound in complete cycles, with Bernstein and Szell at the top of the list. As for the Haydn, look to Harnoncourt or Mackerras. The recorded sound tends to be bright and a little lacking in warmth.
