Das Schwedische Kammerorchester aus Örebro, 1995 gegründet, zählt heute zu den besten Kammerorchestern Europas. Seit 2005 arbeitet das 38-köpfige Solistenkollektiv unter dem 45 Jahre alten Chefdirigenten Thomas Dausgaard an einem neuen Schumann-Zyklus, der im Rahmen eines gross angelegten Projekts („Opening Doors“) neue Türen öffnen soll zu einem zeitgemässen Verständnis der romantische Sinfonik. Die ersten drei Folgen haben bereits mit fesselnden Interpretation Schumanns angeschlagenen Ruf als Sinfoniker glänzend rehabilitiert.
 
 Auch in der nun vorgelegten letzten Folge mit der “Rheinischen“ und der Spätfassung der Vierten begeistern die schwedischen Musiker vor allem durch ihre trockene Prägnanz und Punktgenauigkeit und eine geradezu ansteckende Spielfreude, dir vor allem in der wunderbar schwungvoll dargebotenen dritten Sinfonie alle Schumann angedichtete Melancholie und orchestrale Aufgedunsenheit Lügen straft und mit jugendlicher Attacke die inner Vielschichtigkeit und rhythmische Raffinesse seiner sinfonischen Sprache freilegt.

On y retrouve les traits caractéristiques des deux disques précédents: textures allégées mettant en valeur les bois et les cors (superbes), tempos allants, ou vifs, gout des accents très margués.  Le résultat ne manque pas de charme dans la “Rhénane“, qui perd tout aspect pré-wagnérien dans le Feierlich et gagneu ne transparence et une luminosité mendelssohniennes.

The Rhenish opens breathlessly and there are one or two places where making haste more slowly might have left a sunnier impression. Then again Dausgaard and his players score especially high in the latter part of the second movement, which has an appropriately jaunty gait, and in the third, one of the most sensitively poised recent accounts. The „Cologne Cathedral“ fourth movement is played almost like a Baroque viol fantasy, the contrapuntal lines in place overriding the majestic effect of the whole, while the finale has a dancing demeanour. 

The two overtures work well, the performance of Manfred gaining in heat along with the musical argument, the oddball Hermann und Dorothea always spirited but light in texture. Excellent sound quality and a sensible orchestral layout, with the violin desks divided left and right of the sound stage, make for a happy listening expeirence; and I would say that viewed overall this fine programme provides a worthy conclusion to a riveting cycle ...“

Mit der Dritten und Vierten Sinfonie ist der Schumann-Zyklus des Schwedischen Kammerorchesters unter Thomas Dausgaard nun vollendet. Vollendet im wahrsten Sinn des Wortes, denn mit dieser Aufnahme wird nicht nur die Gesamteinspielung der Sinfonien Robert Schumanns gekrönt, sondern mehr als bei den beiden vorhergehenden Produktionen unterstreicht Thomas Dausgaard, dass er zu den (nicht nur derzeit) herausragenden Schumann-Interpreten gehört. Seine drei Schumann-Platten, Teil des ‘Opening Doors´-Projekts (mit dem Ziel, aus der Perspektive der kleineren Besetzung eines Kammerorchesters eine Tür zur sinfonischen Welt des mittleren bzw. späteren 19. Jahrhunderts zu öffnen) des schwedischen Labels BIS dürfen mit Recht Referenzstatus beanspruchen. So fein, farbig, drängend und süffig hat Schumann schon seit Langem nicht mehr geklungen.

 
Commentators have sometimes indicated unease with the lack of immediacy and expression in Dausgaard´s approach, minimising vibrato and presenting a rather detached string sound. This is arguably a problem with this set, but in taking the moods and dramas of the music on their own terms and allowing the music to speak for itself as much as possible there are numerous other issues which fall away as a result. I personally quite like the sense of unencumbered clarity which Dausgaard achieves, and the clear commitment and technical excellence of the players throughout this and the other recordings carries us through where other versions might indeed give us more overt passion and fire.

The winds and brass certainly pack a considerable punch, and play a significant part in the character of the SCO ‘sound´. The fascinating relationship between ‘baroque´ strings and sharply etched winds is explored in the Overture to ‘Manfred´, ... but as with the symphonies, Dausgaard´s light-footedness allows the quality aspects of the music to speak with disarming directness. Clara Schumann admired this piece as “one of Robert´s most poetic and most gripping", and the composer also considered it one of his “strongest children". This performance does nothing to dissuade the listener of this overture´s status as one of Schumann´s most significant.

... Dausgaard and the SCO´s fleetness and rhythmic bounce make this work (the Fourth Symphony) into an attractive prospect in both versions, and you can take your pick depending on your own mood. There are certainly bigger-boned recordings available, and if the chamber orchestra scale bothers you then there are plenty of more ‘Symphonic´ performances on record. As David Zinman´s recent set on Arte Nova shows however, the trend is more towards a lighter and more transparent view of these works, and in this Dausgaard´s results are second to none. The BIS recording is excellent, and well up to this label´s usual high standards both in terms of clarity and dynamics. I always enjoy the added SACD space — which in BIS´s case almost always suffused with gorgeous acoustic depth and subtle, realistically enhanced sound-staging.

L'avantage de la version Dausgaard c'est l´espèce de jubilation qui baigne l'ensemble. Inconditionnel dela Rhénane , j'ai pris plaisir à écouter cette version (balayée en 29 mintutes!), à redécouvrir plusieurs détails, par exemple au niveau du phrasé du Finale et, surtout, à entendre une texture aussi transparente.

This is the final instalment of Thomas Dausgaard's Schumann cycle with the Swedish Chamber orchestra. As on its two predecessors, the symphonies are interspersed with a couple of Schumann's overtures. One is the most substantial of all his works in that genre, composed as part of his incidental music to Byron's Manfred; the other is the much less well-known overture to Hermann and Dorothea, which is all that survives of what was first planned as an opera on Goethe's verse epic and later envisaged as a secular oratorio. Both receive well-honed, rhythmically aware performances, like the symphonies. On the first disc, Dausgaard included the original 1841 version of the D minor work, which was reorchestrated 10 years later and became officially known as Schumann's Fourth; he includes that later version here. Once again, the performance is sprightly and vigorous ...
Andrew Clements, The Guardian, 28 November 2008
... These are generally first-rate performances that keep the fine Swedish chamber Orchestra on its toes throughout, and render Schumann´s textures admirably transparent.

Att Svenska Kammarorkestern I Örebro har blivit en riktig elitensemble bevisas inte minst av dess senaste CD den som rymmer Schumanns första symfoni samt flera mer sällan spelade orkesterverk I form av uvertyrena till Bruden från Messina och Genoveva, samt de ofullbordade symfonierna Zwickau och Uvertyr, scherzo och final. Sällan har Schumann klingat så här ljust, briljant och tilltalande. Ren mästerlight spelar orkestern under ledning av Thomas Dausgaard och speltiden är nära 78 minuter!

Now that the team of conductor Thomas Dausgaard and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra have completed a survey of the symphonies and major orchestral works of Robert Schumann, it can safely be declared a thorough-going success. Indeed, it might persuasively be argued that Dausgaard's cycle should take its place beside the greatest sets of Schumann's orchestral works ever recorded: Klemperer's, Sawallisch's, and Szell's. That claim may at first seem bold; after all, Dausgaard is a young, nearly unknown Scandinavian conductor without the experience and reputation of Klemperer, Sawallisch, and Szell, and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra is truly a chamber orchestra and thus without the weight and mass of a modern orchestra.

And yet these are startling, even revelatory performances of Schumann's "Third" and "Fourth" symphonies. Dausgaard has a virtuoso technique and complete command of the orchestra, plus what sounds like a passionate attachment to Schumann's music. The Swedish musicians respond with astonishing power -- their strings are searing and their brass blistering, and their timpani bludgeoning -- but also amazing poetry -- the inner movements of the "Third" are particularly beautiful, especially the woodwinds. Together, they create performances that move in a straight line from start to finish, savoring every emotion, relishing every climax, and triumphing in codas with a joyous ecstasy that recalls Furtwängler. Coupled here with an intensely dramatic account of the familiar overture to "Manfred" and a wryly entertaining reading of the nearly unknown overture to the opera "Hermann und Dorothea," this disc can take its place with the previous two volumes as the digital Schumann cycle. As in previous volumes, BIS' super audio sound is spectacularly realistic.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 James Leonard, All Music Guide

Listening to this disc, the last in Thomas Dausgaard´s estimable chamber orchestra series, is rather like taking an obstacle course in a small, highly maneuverable compact car. You feel every single bump along the way, but oh what a ride! This could be close to being the most thrilling Schumann symphony series on the market, with sawing violins smoking down to the bridge and timpani-like rifle shots. The detail is also amazing, if I may continue to use the automotive analogy: the smaller the car the more detailed you see the road as well, and even proximity to another car can send a bit of a rush up your spine.
... Dausgaard has given us something special, a reading of streamlined breeziness and pedal-to-the-metal exhilaration. Actually to hear some of the underlying string rhythms in these pieces is a truly unique experience, while Schumann´s ever-present but not often heard counterpoint is a revelation in this recording. I suppose I could have done without the rush to the finish in the first movement of the “Rhenish," but I can forgive the conductor a few petty slips of judgment.

... I won´t waste too much time on Manfred —Bernstein owns this one, with Giulini second—but instead present a defense for the inclusion of Hermann und Dorothea . This much-maligned piece had great and noble beginnings, an opera based on the epic verse by Goethe of the same name. It then migrated to a Singspiel , and to an oratorio. Schumann tiring of the effort he perceived would be needed to bring the thing to life, finally completed (in just a few days) the Overture alone, dedicating it to Clara, and finishing it in conjunction with the revision of his Fourth Symphony. The work is stirring and slightly tragic, using the French Marseillaise as a prominent theme (the work tells of the confusion of lovers in the aftermath of the French Revolution). As such, the piece becomes almost a mini tone poem, well played here with a lot of spark, and making a nice filler to fatten up this highly recommended album. Like the others in the series, the SACD sound is marvelously placed and really opens the curtain on the soundstage.

“First Impressions Last", heter det ju, men åtminstone i musikens underbara värld känns det som om motsatsen lika ofta inträffar. Hur många ganger har jag inte första gången jag tagit del av en ny inspelning tänkt att “det här later alldeles uppvåt väggarnda". För att efter några genomlyssningar radikalt ändra åsikt.
Efter att närmast chockats av Dausgaards energiska Schumann, började jag efter ett tag inse at han faktiskt har något intressant att saga. Det är ingen tvekan om att han är en begåvad dirigent med en förmåga att lyfta fram det romantiska elementet i den här musiken. Lyssna till exempel till tredje symfonins underbara fjärde sats, som verkligen spelas så “fierlich" som partituret kräver.
Men intrycken från första lyssningen har  inte ännu helt släppt taget. Fortfarande låter det väl häftigt och energiskt från orkestern I de snabbar satserna. Det finns trots allt en gräns, där det som brukar benämnas “friskt tempo" riskerar att övergå I tröttsam stressighet, och ibland är Dausgaard farligt nära detta rödmarkerade område på hastighetsmätaren.
Dessa invändningar bör inte skymma att Dausgaards tolkningar är väl värda att pröva. Ett plus också för de två uvertyrerna, där Manfred spelas strålande rakt igenom.

 
Dausgaards Schwedisches Kammerorchester steht für den Versuch, das sinfonische Kernrepertoire durch eine kleine Besetzung aufzufrischen: dynamisch, elektrisierend und musikantisch.