There were two surprises in the April 1983 concerts, namely the young violinist Peter Zazofsky and Tennstedt’s reading of Schubert’s Great C major Symphony. Born in Boston, Zazovsky studied with Dorothy Delay, Jaime Laredo and Ivan Galamian at the Curtis Institute of Music. Starting in 1974 he won a number of prizes in competitions, including the 1980 silver medal at the Concours Musical International Reine Elisabeth in Brussels. In his Berlin début he demonstrated "the marks of the true virtuoso – the ability to take the interpretative lead in a theme" (Sybill Mahlke, Tagesspiegel). Wolfgang Schultze wrote in the Berliner Morgenpost of how the violinist "drew out the musical line in strong, bold strokes, with exemplary purity of intonation, exquisite taste and admirable sensitivity; he ably sustained the great sweep of the first two movements, the one leading into the other without a break, and the final movement, with its folk-music references, was presented with sparkling vitality – altogether a musician wholly dedicated to the work with no hint of the self-promoting virtuoso."

Reactions to Tennstedt’s interpretation of the Schubert C major Symphony were uneven. His dynamic choice of tempo no doubt troubled some listeners; in the Andantes, both in the introduction to the first movement and in the second movement, most commonly heard at a more measured and unhurried pace, Tennstedt opted for faster, bolder tempi. Wolfgang Schultze (Berliner Morgenpost) wrote that the conductor had resorted to "a fairly brisk movement with ample momentum and powerful élan". But the result was "a somewhat agitated Schubert, notably coarse-grained, with exaggerated accentuation and too little romantic colouring". According to Sybill Mahlke in the Tagesspiegel Tennstedt seemed unwilling to allow the score to "sing for itself", wanting everywhere to interpret, to read too much into every bar. "He works feverishly for every possible effect, to bring out every inner part, without allowing long phrases to breathe adequately in the slow introduction or in the Andante’s song-like line in the oboe and clarinet and second violins. In the third movement the return of the trio was strangely low-key; the Schubert that emerged was mannered and inauthentic, neglectful of innate features and spiritual qualities in the score." But reactions are hard to understand when we now listen to this recording in all its energy, dramatic intelligence and melodic fervour.

from the booklet note © Helge Grünewald, 2010