(Dis)Arrangements 20.

Grant Chu Covell

[February 2026.]

Franz SCHUBERT: Die schöne Müllerin, D. 795 (1823; arr. Franui). Florian Boesch (bar), Musicbanda Franui: Johannes Eder (clar), Romed Hopfgartner (sax, clar), Markus Rainer, Patrik Hofer, Andreas Schett (tpt, voice), Martin Senfter (trb, voice), Andreas Fuetsch, Simon Teurezbacher (tuba), Angelika Rainer (hp, zither, voice), Bettina Rainer (dulcimer, voice), Nikolai Tunkowitsch (vln), Markus Kraler (cbs, accordion), Andreas Schett (cond.). col legno WWE 20481_V (1 CD, 2 LPs) (www.col-legno.com).

Sometimes I overflow to express enthusiasm or make a case. This is a rare moment where I don’t have much to say other than Schubert’s near perfect original is hereby transformed and brought to a new level.

“Das Wandern” gracefully introduces the band’s rustic colors: accordion, tuba, trumpet, clarinet, violin, saxophone, dulcimer, harp, contrabass and trombone. Boesch and Franui transport us to a quaint Austrian village where Schubert’s music and Müller’s poems transform into a modest play that looks forwards to Mahler, Weill and beyond. We’re not surprised when “Trockne Blumen” breaks into a polka, or when the band sings as the brook in the last songs to indicate the idealistic miller’s fate.

Boesch sounds fantastic, effortless and inviting. The best arrangements enhance and reveal, and this is one such rarity. I wonder if they will get to Winterreise, but this program is so great – there’s no rush.

“Schubert (Un)Finished.” Franz SCHUBERT: “Tränenregen” from Die schöne Müllerin, D. 795 (1823; orch. Anton WEBERN, 1903); “Der Wegweiser” from Winterreise, D. 911 (1827; orch. WEBERN, 1903); “Memnon,” D. 541 (1817; orch. Johannes BRAHMS, 1862); “Geheimes,” D. 719 (1821; orch. BRAHMS, 1862); “Ihr Bild” from Schwanengesang, D. 957 (1828; orch. WEBERN, 1903); “Grüppe aus dem Tartarus,” D. 583 (1817; orch. BRAHMS, 1871); “Du bist die Ruh,” D. 776 (1823; orch. WEBERN, 1903); Symphony No. 7 in B minor, D. 759, “Unfinished” (1822; compl. Nicola SAMALE and Benjamin-Gunnar COHRS, 2015) with Entr’acte No. 1 from Rosamunde, Fürstin von Zypern, D. 797 (1823); Overture from Die Zauberharfe, D. 644 (1820). Florian Boesch (b-bar), Concentus Musicus Wien, Stefan Gottfried (cond.). Aparté AP189 (1 CD) (apartemusic.com/en/home).

Boesch is in fine form for seven song orchestrations which precede a non-controversial completion of Schubert’s Unfinished. We begin with Webern’s “Tränenregen” orchestration, obviously traditional and restrained unlike Franui’s. Brahms and Webern’s song orchestrations are persuasive and allow an orchestra to partake in Schubert’s crystalline song setting. Would Schubert have orchestrated the songs in this way? Perhaps not as the songs were conceived for a different context. I hear the subtlest difference between Brahms’ and Webern’s treatments: Webern’s seem lighter.

Is Schubert’s music without texts as convincing as the music with texts? Are Schubert’s own orchestrations as effective as others? The Unfinished’s first two movement’s ubiquity preclude a non-biased reception towards any additions or completions. Samale and Cohrs assert that Schubert had completely drafted the Scherzo and started the orchestration (I find the timpani incongruous). Scholars generally believe that the Rosamunde Entr’acte No. 1 was originally intended for the symphony, given its key and motivic relationships. A familiar as they are, the first two movements can be cumbersome, even cloying. Relief comes with the new Scherzo, and then it is easy to hear the Rosamunde music completing the circle.

To continue the alternative mindset, the release concludes with what is commonly known as the Rosamunde Overture which Schubert had written for an earlier production, Die Zauberharfe. When the opportunity to publish Rosamunde arrived, Schubert incorporated the completed Die Zauberharfe overture.

“Transcription as Translation.” Bedřich SMETANA: String Quartet No. 1 in E minor, “From My Life” (1876; arr. George SZELL, 1939-40). Ludwig van BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-flat major, Op. 106, “Hammerklavier” (1817-18; arr. Felix WEINGARTNER, 1925). The Orchestra Now, Leon Botstein (cond.). Avie AV2822 (1 CD) (www.avie-records.com).

We should be grateful to have Szell’s premiere of “From My Life,” recorded March 8, 1941, with the NBC Symphony Orchestra (SOMM Ariadne 5032). Despite the mono radio recording, the performance bursts with energy from its initial melodic statement, the original viola theme. In contrast, this new recording is dull. Szell’s vanilla orchestration expectably echoes Má Vlast, but The Orchestra Now overlooks the connection, sounding aimless and plodding. While Szell’s own recording reveals an appreciation for Smetana, Botstein’s leaves me cold.

Likewise, Weingartner’s Beethoven could use stronger advocacy. Despite older technology, a 1953 recording with the Bavarian Symphony Orchestra and Kurt Graunke sets a solid precedent with sensible tempos and crisper definition. I fault the recording choices, as this modern recording has a narrow dynamic range with numbing reverb. The result is a bland Hammerklavier. In the Graunke recording’s opening of the last movement, we can hear Wagnerian pre-echoes. The prelude to the fugue can be Promethean, whereas, Botstein’s team is unfocussed.

If Weingartner’s Beethoven were better presented, I might not quibble with the instrument choices. This sluggish Scherzo doesn’t work. The dissonant chord before the scherzo restatement is suppressed, scored with strings and upper winds, when perhaps brass might have emphasized the F/G-flat dissonance, and at the movement’s close, the abrupt transition from B to B-flat.