Yannick Nezet-Seguin, Robert Alexander Schumann and Chamber Orchestra of Europe - Schumann: Symphonies 1-4 (2014)

For these revelatory performances - captured live at acclaimed concerts in Paris - he conducts the superb Chamber Orchestra of Europe, one of the world s preeminent chamber orchestras.

Taking a fresh perspective on familiar music, Yannick Nézet-Séguin challenges the conventional view on the composer s symphonies.

Of all the major symphonies, I d say that Schumann s are best performed by a slightly smaller ensemble... With a lean string section not only in size, but also in its quality of playing the music just works. - Yannick Nezet-Seguin

The Canadian Maestro sees Schumann s music as rooted in the bipolar nature of the composer s troubled psyche, emphasizing dramatic shifts of temperament - not only between movements but even within a single phrase.

He s one of those composers whose personality is completely expressed in their music...those fluctuations between the melancholy and something very inward-looking are combined with a very manic kind of energy that wants to conquer the world. That s what is so special about Schumann. - Yannick Nezet-Seguin

This new cycle includes the second, revised version of Schumann s second symphony, published as his Symphony No.4.

I try to respect whenever a composer makes a revision because he feels the need to, rather than because of any outside pressure. I m personally convinced that the symphony s message, and this feeling of one big movement, is better conveyed by the later version. - Yannick Nezet-Seguin

This set is Yannick Nézet-Séguin s first recording of a complete symphony cycle.