NOW I know! This Schubert symphony shouldn´t be played with perfection because it IS not perfect. It is a daring experiment by Schubert! Who had ever heard a symphony orchestra sound like that - with all that brass and with that both apocalyptic and hopefully visionary sound? Is the world heading towards a disaster or towards a new beginning? (something we still ask ourselves. Even more today!)

So - everyone trying to interpret this symphony in the old-fashioned "perfect" fashion will fail. THIS is how it should sound - sort of VIBRATING and full of ideas which may not always fit together but which create a breathtaking feeling of STANDING IN THE MIDST OF LIFE!

Actually, I fell asleep in the middle of it (during the wonderful movement with the oboe playing this "wandering" motif). Or rather I dozed in a content sort of half-slumber. Not because the music was boring but because when I relaxed I felt how TIRED I was! (just like the poet in Schubert´s song cycle Winterreise.) But - if this should happen to you too, dear readers - don´t be embarassed! Just remember Stravinsky´s words "It doesn´t matter if you fall asleep listening to Schubert because when you awake you are in Heaven!"