For my entire life, Schumann's 4th was my least favorite of his symphonies. I found it bland and repetitive. I then heard Dudamel and the LA Phil play it a few weeks ago at Disney Hall, and it was a revelation. The recapitulation of the opening theme in the second movement, which had in the past struck me as redundant, now seemed ingenious to me, as it made complete structural sense in a symphony that is as fantastic as any I have heard. The Dude had the orchestra positively swinging in the last two movements, and the soloists were delightful. Principal oboe Ariana Ghenz was especially good.
My sudden obsession with Schumann 4 led me to this wonderful video of Karajan rehearsing the piece. I am not always crazy about HvK's interpretation of music, but here he shows he really knows what he wants, and how to communicate it (BTW, much to my surprise, Karajan's Haydn was magic. More about this later).
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