Schmidt: Symphony No. 1 in E Major The BBC National Orchestra of Wales & Jonathan Berman

• Franz Schmidt (1874 - 1939): Schmidt: Symphony No. 1 in E Major:
• 1 Schmidt: Symphony No. 1 in E Major: I. Sehr langsam - Sehr lebhaft 11:47
• 2 Schmidt: Symphony No. 1 in E Major: II. Langsam 12:14
• 3 Schmidt: Symphony No. 1 in E Major: III. Schnell und leicht 12:32
• 4 Schmidt: Symphony No. 1 in E Major: IV. Lebhaft, doch nicht zu schnell 10:16
• Total Runtime 46:49

Info for Schmidt: Symphony No. 1 in E Major

The first release in a cycle of all 4 symphonies by Franz Schmidt with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conduced by Jonathan Berman.

“In conversations about Franz Schmidt the recurring theme emerging for many is that listening to a performance of his music at a young age became the turning point in their lives – the realisation of how powerful music can be,” recalls conductor Jonathan Berman who also found his love for the music of Franz Schmidt while researching the composer for prior to a performance of his Fourth Symphony. ??

Over the years, Berman has become an avid promoter of Schmidt’s works, which prompted him to start recording all four symphonies with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales as well as present the composer’s oeuvre in an array of televised concerts and radio documentaries, a festival focusing on Schmidt’s chamber music, and so much more - all leading up to the composer’s 150th birthday in 2024. Until the pandemic hit in 2020 just shortly after the First Symphony had been recorded in January of that year... ??

The recordings of the other three symphonies are scheduled to recommence in November 2021 and all four symphonies will be released in a box set on Accentus Music in time for the composer’s jubilee. As a taster of what’s to come and to tide the audience over until the recordings are completed, the four symphonies will be released digitally as a lead-in to the joint physical box set, starting with this recording of the First Symphony. While it is still an early work in Schmidt’s oeuvre and audibly inspired by the composers who came before him, the symphony’s musical grace and refinement already allude to the composer’s later works, which shines trough in Berman’s inspiring interpretation with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

Produced in association with BBC Radio 3 and BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

The BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Jonathan Berman, conductor

Jonathan Berman
started conducting as a teenager and has since established a reputation as a conductor of great insight, and a polymath whose wide ranging achievements both on and off the stage reveal a thoughtful, imaginative artist beyond his years.

He is much sought after in repertoire ranging from classical to contemporary. He has received return invitations from Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, Filarmonica “George Enescu”, Bucharest, Sinfonietta Riga, Aldeburgh Festival and the Aldeburgh Festival Orchestra, Tanglewood Festival, Lithuanian National Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Academy of Music London, Southbank Sinfonia, and the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong.

Upcoming and recent debuts include the Philharmonia Orchestra London, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Picardie, Orchestra di Padova e Veneto, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, Hagen Philharmonic Orchestra, Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, London Mozart Players, City of London Sinfonia and the Nash Ensemble.

During the pandemic Jonathan’s deeply innovative and imaginative approach to music has led to him creating 9 award winning films of, or about, classical music for Greengage Productions. His films almost create a new genre of classical music film, combining animations, stop motion, art, poetry and choreographic cinematography in repertoire as diverse as Bach, Messiaen, Stravinsky and Satie have won awards from Palm Beach to London and Venice.

At the start of the first Lockdown in March 2020, Jonathan founded Stand Together Music, an initiative to help musicians in both the Classical and Non-Classical world who were suffering from cancelations. Through Stand Together Music Jonathan charted every cancelled concert in the UK for 100 days and compiled 12,149 tracks of over 1000 hours of music created by over 1000 different artists/composers whose work was impacted by lockdown.

In 2020 Jonathan launch ‘The Franz Schmidt Project’ to record all the symphonies of Franz Schmidt with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, with the 1st Symphony recorded in January 2020. “The Franz Schmidt Project” has been set up to perform and promote his music, leading to Schmidt’s 150 Birthday in 2024. Partners include, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, BBC Radio 3, The Austrian Cultural Forum, London, The British Council Vienna, the Royal Welsh College or Music and Drama, Royal Academy of Music, London and the Filarmonica “George Enescu”, Bucharest. ​

As a champion of new music, he has conducted many premiers and regularly works with the London Sinfonietta, Ensemble Modern, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, New European Ensemble, Crash Ensemble Dublin and the Britten Pears Ensemble.

As an opera conductor he has a repertoire of over 40 operas conducting productions for the Nationale Reis Opera, English Touring Opera, Aldeburgh Festival, Grachten Festival, Anghiari Festival, Dartington International Festival, Jerwood Opera Course, Opera Studio Netherlands, Dutch National Opera Academy, Mahogany Opera, Centre for Opera Studies in Italy, and has been a cover conductor at the Royal Opera House London, Barbican Centre and the Holland Festival.

Since his teenage years, Jonathan has been mentored by and became close friends with Oliver Knussen and Stanislav Skrowaczewski. He studied a Bachelors and Masters degree with Jac van Steen at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague. Jonathan is the first Brit and first conductor to have won the Kempinski Young Artist Prize, which enabled him to study with Franz Welser-Möst and the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, and with Michael Tilson Thomas and the New World Symphony.

In the tradition of Leonard Bernstein, Jonathan is a conductor who relishes in communicating complex ideas with all audiences. He goes above and beyond the tradition role of a conductor engaging and forming the trust of audiences from traditional listeners to the next generation.

Booklet for Schmidt: Symphony No. 1 in E Major