Under the baton of their founder and conductor Marc Minkowski, Les Musiciens du Louvre Grenoble have since their establishment in 1982 devoted themselves to orchestral performances on historical instruments. 2012, the thirtieth anniversary of this club from Grenoble, is being marked by an ambitious CD project: through their Naïve label, they are recording the complete symphonic works of Schubert. During the Klara Festival, moreover, they will be performing all the symphonies in Brussels, Bruges and Antwerp, the first fruits of a new programme of co-operation among organizers in these three cities.
Schubert wrote the majority of his symphonies between 1813 and 1818, while both still a teacher and learning his trade with Antonio Salieri. The Third, Fourth (the Tragic) and Sixth Symphonies give a clear insight into his development as a composer, which follows more the line of Haydn and Mozart than of Beethoven, albeit that the Sixth contains unmistakable echoes of the German master.