MUSIC AND DANCE : SCHUBERT: Symphonies Nos. 5 and 8; “Rosamunde” Overture.

San Francisco Symphony, conducted by Herbert Blomstedt. London 433 072-2. This recording joins at least 19 others currently available of the “Rosamunde” Overture, 32 others of the Symphony No. 5 and 55 of the “Unfinished” Symphony. So one has the right to ask: Why this recording? Blomstedt’s views on these scores are certainly not outre--these are mainstream accounts. And on the downside is his overfavoring of the string sound: One misses the brightening details of crisp, forward woodwinds and forceful brass. But that’s the worst of it. In general these are elegant and rhythmically vibrant readings, meticulously prepared. Indeed, it is the exceptional playing of the San Francisco Symphony--musically involved from first violin to last bassoon--that fetches one at last.