Bernstein conducts Schumann: Symphony No. 2 & Cello Concerto

Leonard Bernstein conducts Schumann's imposing Second Symphony alongside the Cello Concerto in these 1985 performances filmed as part of a complete cycle of the composer's orchestral works. As with his cycles of works by Mahler, Beethoven and Brahms, Bernstein conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker. The soloist in the Cello Concerto – a work still often underappreciated, despite its many beauties – is the young Mischa Maisky, while Bernstein and the orchestra turn in a characteristically individual and beautifully played performance of the Symphony, a work born out of a troubled period in Schumann's life but which, after the Romantic brooding of the third movement, culminates in a finale of irresistible optimism.

Soloist: 

Mischa Maisky (Cello)

Ensemble: 

Wiener Philharmoniker

Conductor: 

Leonard Bernstein