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Georg Schumann's "Ruth": Philip Harrison Review
Posted by Colin Mackie on July 13, 2025, 11:40 pm
Although I, dutifully, purchase almost all CD recordings of orchestral and choral music composed during the last 130 years or so I am often underwhelmed by pieces which enjoyed some popularity or at least exposure in the two decades prior to 1914. Georg Schumann's two symphonies recorded previously by CPO struck me as eminently worthy examples of German late Romanticism but certainly not works I would regard as more than that. I was therefore not particularly enthused by the prospect of buying the composer's substantial oratorio "Ruth". That is until I read the review of the double CD set here on Musicweb. I was absolutely bowled over! Philip Harrison's enthusiasm for the piece, its performance and the recording was entirely justified and I would endorse everything he wrote. "Ruth" is a quite superb example of late Romanticism at its very best, both beautiful and magnificent. The closing pages alone are absolutely amazing. Philip Harrison mentions them in the same context as Schoenberg's "Gurrelieder" and Mahler's 8th and they gave me exactly the same goosebumps as I listened in astonished admiration. All Wagnerians should listen to a work so sadly neglected (for a variety of reasons) over the last 100 years This is a great example of a reviewer's enthusiasm being perfectly communicated!
