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Mahler: Symphony No. 3 / Bychkov, Czech Philharmonic

PENTATONE

$29.99 Mar 07, 2025

The Czech Philharmonic and its Chief Conductor and Music Director Semyon Bychkov continue their acclaimed Mahler cycle with the composer's Third Symphony, working together with mezzo-soprano Catriona Morison, the Prague Philharmonic Choir and Pueri Gaudentes. In this monumental work, Mahler combines a text from Nietzsche's Also sprach Zarathustra with the folk song inspirations of Des Knaben Wunderhorn, culminating in eternal bliss in the closing Adagio. To Bychkov, this longest Mahler symphony offers his "least hysterical" music, and hearing it for the first time as a 10-year-old choirboy kindled his life-long fascination and love for this composer. With this recording, it comes full circle.

The Czech Philharmonic - recently awarded Gramophone's Orchestra of the Year Award - is one of the world's orchestral gems, recognized for its rich tradition with the Czech masters as well as European repertoire. Together with their Chief Conductor and Music Director Semyon Bychkov, they have so far recorded for PENTATONE Mahler's First, Second, Fourth and Fifth Symphonies (2022-2023), part of the complete Mahler cycle to be released by the label, as well as Smetana's Ma vlast and Dvorak's Seventh, Eighth and Ninth Symphonies (2024). The Orchestra is also featured on the albums Folk Songs (2023) and Czech Songs (2024) recorded by Magdalena Ko�ena and Sir Simon Rattle, as well as Dvorak Legends & Rhapsodies with Tomas Netopil.

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Mahler: Symphony No. 3 / Bychkov, Czech Philharmonic
PENTATONE Mar 2025
CD
$29.99

Frederic Cliffe: Symphony No. 1; Cloud And Sunshine
Sterling Records Aug 2013
CD
$20.99

Darmstadter Sinfonien (Darmstadt Symphonies)

CPO

$18.99 Jan 30, 2026

The name Johann Stamitz is so inextricably linked to the legendary "Mannheim School" that the title of this production might be viewed as a misprint. In fact, however, there is nothing wrong with the Bohemian musician's "Darmstadt Symphonies," as their name merely refers to the place where the performance material was archived. The parts were prepared by Christoph Graupner, the Kapellmeister of the Darmstadt Court Orchestra at the time. It cannot be determined exactly where and when Stamitz wrote this lively, concise, and innovative music; however, there is no doubt that these compositions take us back to the earliest years of a genre that, despite countless changes, has remained a creative touchstone to this day. To sense the spirit of the birth of the symphonic tradition is a refreshing experience: at the beginning of all things, the power of simplicity reigns.

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Darmstadter Sinfonien (Darmstadt Symphonies)
CPO Jan 2026
CD
$18.99

Mix & Match

Mahler: Symphony No. 5 & Des Knaben Wunderhorn / Nelsons, Goerne [Blu-ray]

Accentus Music

Blu-Ray

$41.99 Mar 21, 2016

Also available on standard DVD

Andris Nelsons conducted the Lucerne Festival Orchestra for the third time in August 2015, the orchestra’s second summer without founder and guiding spirit Claudio Abbado. The first half of his concert was already a highlight: the baritone Matthias Goerne seemed completely at home in a selection of songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn. His warm, dark voice allows him to capture the somber and tragic atmosphere of this music like no one else. Its shaded timbre is most perfectly suited to the work’s melancholy and nocturnal moods, where one can directly experience how an artist of this caliber can bring music to the edge of the abyss. The Lucerne Festival Orchestra, renowned for its unique Mahler sound, had last played Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 in the summer of 2004 with Abbado – a flowing, transparent, and ethereal interpretation. Nelsons finds a completely different approach to the work. His Mahler is fiery, expansive, and powerful. In spite of the introductory funeral march, his reading is more positive than tragic, radiating an intense vitality. It is breathtaking to observe the orchestra’s response to Nelsons’s energetic, physical, and emotional conducting style. The relationship between orchestra and conductor is one of giving and taking, nothing else.

Picture Format Blu?ray: NTSC 16:9, Full HD

Sound Formats Blu?ray: DTS HD Master Audio, PCM Stereo

Region Code: 0 (worldwide)

Running Time: 123:12 min

Disc Format: BD 25

Subtitles: German (Original), French, English, Japanese, Korean

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Mahler: Symphony No. 5 & Des Knaben Wunderhorn / Nelsons, Goerne [Blu-ray]
Accentus Music Mar 2016
Blu-Ray
$41.99

Mahler: Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection" / Rouvali, Philharmonia Orchestra

Signum Classics

$27.99 Sep 22, 2023

Mahler 2 is the second album from Philharmonia Records; following their first album - Santtu conducts Strauss. “[Also sprach Zarathustra] Rouvali’s conducting of both is certainly interesting and personal... impressive; an expansive reading that sees the work whole...[An Alpine Symphony] undeniably picturesque; vivid and dramatically projected...top-notch playing; and this extravagant score also enjoys notable recorded sound... lingering lyricism; invariably heartfelt and; in conclusion; cathartic”; Founded in 1945; The Philharmonia Orchestra creates thrilling performances for a global audience and has premiered works by Richard Strauss; Sir Peter Maxwell Davies; Errollyn Wallen; Kaija Saariaho and many others. The Philharmonia has an extraordinary 77-year recording legacy; and has recorded around 150 soundtracks; with film credits stretching back to 1947. In the 2021/22 season the Orchestra performs in Romania; Spain; Finland; Greece and Germany.

Santtu-Matias Rouvali is a Finnish conductor and percussionist; and is currently principal conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra. Rouvali continues his relationships with orchestras across Europe; including with the Berlin Philharmonic; New York Philharmonic; Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; Munich Phillharmonic and the the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France.

REVIEW:

In the first movement Rouvali is animated and engaged, using a lighter hand than most other conductors. Such a natural lyrical bent would seem to run counter to music that Mahler originally conceived as a funeral rite (Totenfeier), and it’s certainly unusual for a conductor to have such a relaxed grip on the drama and still make the first movement work.

The point is underscored in the minuet-like second movement, usually a throwaway, which is captivating in Rouvali’s hands, a nostalgic poem. The Scherzo is taken at quite a clip, divorcing the music from the gently satiric song in Des Knaben Wunderhorn about St. Anthony preaching to a school of transfixed fish. Rouvali sharpens the edges and makes the movement rambunctiously exciting—I can’t remember any other conductor leading this music one beat to a bar.

As the soloist in the raptly reverent “Urlicht,” mezzo Jennifer Johnston is sensitive and sincere, but Rouvali leads such an eloquent orchestral part that one wishes he had a singer of the highest caliber. Johnston’s German is more than a shade too basic for the poetry. The thunder and brass that open the fifth movement display excellent balance, bringing forward this conductor’s ability to extract beautiful playing for which the word “burnished” was invented. The many solos and ensemble passages in the final half hour of the “Resurrection” Symphony come off with unforced gorgeousness, needing no shred of rhetoric to make an impact.

Rouvali has held his fire to some extent, making it all the more thrilling when he unleashes the full power of the finale in moments of blazing climax. He must have had the audience on the edge of their seats. Against this tumult, the sudden whispered quiet of the chorus is doubly effective. Soprano Mari Eriksmoen emerges with melting lyricism, and yet you are aware that Rouvali milks nothing for effect—his eye is fixed on the musicality of every measure. You also notice how even the softest passages retain a restrained intensity that keeps the moving line tensile and alive. This is particularly helpful in the duets for mezzo and soprano, where the momentum is most likely to sag. Here, not a single transition is awkward or faltering.

The final apotheosis is so magnificently handled that I can’t blame the producers for including a minute of excited applause from the audience in Royal Festival Hall. For anyone who has harbored doubts about Rouvali’s meteoric rise, a performance as imaginative and beautifully shaped as this one should dispel them. I’m convinced that he has a special gift. I cannot wait to see how it will unfold in the coming years.

-- Fanfare (Huntley Dent)

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Mahler: Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection" / Rouvali, Philharmonia Orchestra
Signum Classics Sep 2023
CD
$27.99

Badings: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5 / Bochumer Symphoniker, Porcelijn

CPO

$18.99 Jan 08, 2016

This new Henk Badings recording further confirms his rank as a great twentieth-century Dutch composer with an important and independent individual voice in European music. Although he composed his fourth symphony during the war years, absolutely nothing related to World War II or its atmosphere is to be found in it. It is instead a work adhering to the classical structure and displaying unaffected naturalness and quick musical wit, especially in its fast movements. In 1949 Badings composed his fifth symphony as a commissioned work for the sixtieth anniversary of the Concertgebouw Orchestra. In 1955 a reviewer for the daily De Tijd wrote that this symphony resembled film music inasmuch as it clearly dealt with illustrative elements. This was not intended as a negative judgment but instead was born of admiration for the composer’s suggestive style. In any case, today this music impresses the listener with its surprising freshness and vitality.

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Badings: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5 / Bochumer Symphoniker, Porcelijn
CPO Jan 2016
CD
$18.99

Kurek: Symphony No. 2 - Tales from the Realm of Faerie and Other Works

Navona

$8.49 ~~$16.99~~ Save 50% Oct 14, 2022

Navona Records presents Michael Kurek’s SYMPHONY NO. 2: TALES FROM THE REALM OF FAERIE, a rich musical tapestry intertwining the colors and characteristics of many fantastical worlds the composer has entered and loved. Performed by the European Recording Orchestra, a certain spirit of unspoiled beauty, innocence, nobility, hope, and heroic goodness stretches across four movements, each giving the listener creative control of the worlds they conjure. With a well-balanced lineage of traditional compositional techniques running throughout his symphony and other works for choir to follow, Kurek presents a dynamic assortment of work that keeps the spirit and heritage of classical music alive.

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Sale

Kurek: Symphony No. 2 - Tales from the Realm of Faerie and Other Works
Navona Oct 2022
CD
~~$16.99~~ $8.49

Franck, C.: Symphony in D Minor / Psyche
Avie Records May 2002
CD
$19.99

ORCHESTRAL WORKS

First Hand Records

$21.99 Jul 30, 2012

This historical release from First Hand features two major English orchestras and two acclaimed conductors in stereo recordings from the late 1950s, offered here for the first time on CD and for the first time ever in stereo. The recordings were transferred using original analogue session and master tapes from the EMI archive. The program includes American conductor Thomas Schippers leading the Philharmonia Orchestra in Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4, and English conductor Sir Eugene Goossens leading the orchestra in Scriabin's Reverie in the first recording of a Scriabin work ever made by a British orchestra. To conclude the disc, Goossens leads the Pro Arte Orchestra in Prokofiev's Symphony No. 1.

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ORCHESTRAL WORKS
First Hand Records Jul 2012
CD
$21.99

BRAHMS: THE SYMPHONIES

WARNER CLASSICS

$36.61 May 26, 2023

In their first Warner Classics release of symphonic repertoire, the players of the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra and their Chief Conductor Michael Sanderling perform the four Brahms Symphonies and Schoenberg's orchestration of Brahms' Piano Quartet in G minor. Founded in 1805, the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra (Luzerner Sinfonieorchester) is Switzerland's oldest orchestra. As Sanderling points out, Brahms made two visits to Lucerne.The location of Switzerland's central city, creates a link with Brahms," says Sanderling.It's proximity to the mountains, it's position on beautiful Lake Lucerne.. I can hear that in Brahms' symphonic music. I can hear his love for nature.. The purity of the air. And in his Symphony No 1, I think we can all hear the sound of the alphorn, which Brahms heard for the first time in Switzerland and which inspired the gorgeous theme [of the symphony's fourth movement]." Sanderling feels that, more than 200 years into it's existence, new vistas -especially in the symphonic repertoire of late Romanticism - are opening up for the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra. He and the players are looking forward to further voyages of discovery.

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BRAHMS: THE SYMPHONIES
WARNER CLASSICS May 2023
CD
$36.61

Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 / Roth, Gürzenich Orchestra

Myrios Classics

$19.99 May 10, 2024

To date, countless composers and Bruckner scholars have attempted to undo the body-snatching and reconstruct the manuscripts of the fourth movement into a whole "in the spirit of the composer". François-Xavier Roth and the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne remain true to the original three-movement version in their highly acclaimed Bruckner cycle, and this album marks an important milestone in the work's discography.

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Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 / Roth, Gürzenich Orchestra
Myrios Classics May 2024
CD
$19.99

Bruckner: Symphony No. 3
Audite Musikproduktion Oct 2011
CD
$14.99

Sale

Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 6, "Pastorale"
Fuga Libera May 2010
CD
~~$10.99~~ $8.99

Schubert: Symphony No. 9, "the Great"
Archipel Jan 2012
CD
$10.99

Mozart: The Last Sympbonies

Rewind

$8.99 ~~$11.99~~ Save 25% Jun 24, 2014

Mozart's 40th symphony, perhaps his most beautiful and well known, has an intensity that allows us to sense the depth of tragic sentiment then occupying Mozart’s mind. His 41st, and last, symphony – the “Jupiter” – a titanic work in many regards – is an expertly assembled mix of tradition and innovation. Founded in 1987 by Jos van Immerseel, the multi-award winning Anima Eterna Brugge, now a full-bred, period instrument ensemble, boasts an impressive repertoire ranging from Bach to Gershwin.

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Sale

Mozart: The Last Sympbonies
Rewind Jun 2014
CD
~~$11.99~~ $8.99

Beethoven: Symphonies, Vol. 5 / Uys, Schoeman

SOMM Recordings

$18.99 Jul 05, 2024

SOMM Recordings proudly announces this fifth and penultimate release in the complete cycle of the Beethoven Symphonies arranged for piano four-hands by the great Polish-German composer and pianist Xaver Scharwenka. This is a series that has consistently had listeners "waiting impatiently for the next volume" (MusicWeb International). Of the many piano-duo versions of the Symphonies, Scharwenka's benefit from an unbroken link back to Beethoven himself, for the arranger was a piano student of Franz Kullak, who in turn studied under the master symphonist's pupil Carl Czerny. The present Volume 5 adds Symphonies 4 & 8 to the collection, coupled with Ferruccio Busoni's two-piano transcription of Mozart's Magic Flute Overture BV B 93, leaving only Beethoven's "Choral" Ninth still to be released on the series' concluding instalment. The performers undertaking this monumental recording project, the "phenomenal" piano duo of Tessa Uys & Ben Schoeman ("In Tune", BBC Radio 3), have performed all nine symphony arrangements in public for almost a decade, breeding a familiarity that informs the impeccable ensemble and authoritative vision they bring to the recordings. Gramophone's Peter J. Rabinowitz lauded this in Volume 4: "Uys and Schoeman cut through the clutter with impressive unanimity; and their finely gauged handling of dynamics and their rhythmic drive... assure that the symphonies emerge with their shape intact, even shorn of orchestral colour. It all sounds idiomatic, both as Beethoven and as piano music... knowledgeable and illuminating." The Sunday Times' Dan Cairns, who named Volume 3 a "Classical Album of the Week", also relished those "dual delights: you can just as easily feel you are listening to entirely new works as experience moments when your response will be along the lines of: 'Ah yes, that bit'. Both are richly rewarding... a fascinating listening experience." The two-piano Magic Flute Overture included here echoes Volume 4 in the series, which featured the Mozart-Busoni Duettino concertante based on the Finale of Piano Concerto No.19, a performance hailed in BBC Music Magazine as "brilliantly conceived and light as a feather". Ates Orga, reviewing for International Piano, noted the change in aural texture from the four-hands Beethoven to two pianos, "the audible separation of instruments enhancing their spatial impact". Ferruccio Busoni was a younger contemporary of Scharwenka, and they died the same year, making this the centenary of the deaths of both pianist-composers. Perhaps most associated with arrangements of Bach, Busoni also championed the music of his fellow Freemason Mozart, and he celebrates that link in his transcription of the Masonic opera's overture.

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Beethoven: Symphonies, Vol. 5 / Uys, Schoeman
SOMM Recordings Jul 2024
CD
$18.99

Weinberg: Music for Orchestral, Vol 2 / Vasilyev, Siberian Symphony

Toccata

$20.99 Jan 08, 2016

The Toccata Classics 2014 release of Mieczys?aw Weinberg’s Symphony No. 21, Op. 152 Kaddish and Polish Tunes, Op. 47, No. 2 was remarkable and created considerable interest. Now Toccata present a second Weinberg volume comprising two world première recordings. Once again Toccata use the admirable Siberian Symphony Orchestra under Dmitry Vasilyev.

Thanks to a burgeoning interest in Weinberg there is now an increasing number of recordings of this Polish-born Soviet composer. The Bregenz Festival in 2011 headlined a Weinberg Retrospective and gave the stage première of Weinberg’s Holocaust opera The Passenger directed by David Pountney the festival’s music director (review ~ review). As the Bregenz festival’s featured composer a number of other Weinberg scores were performed including his Gogol opera The Portrait directed by John Fulljames. David Fanning’s recent book Mieczyslaw Weinberg: In Search of Freedom has undoubtedly increased awareness and further widened the knowledge of this talented and fascinating composer. It would only take a renowned conductor - maybe one born in Russia - such as Kirill Petrenko, Vasily Petrenko or Kirill Karabits to make recordings of Weinberg’s symphonic works to command international attention.

From 1958 The White Chrysanthemum ballet in three acts after A. Rumnev and J. Romanovich has a scenario based on a girl who is blinded at Hiroshima but later has her sight restored by Soviet doctors. The ballet was never staged probably due to difficult political relations with Japan around that time. No score has been found and it is even possible that Weinberg left the ballet unorchestrated. It was Weinberg himself who extracted the Six Ballet Scenes and orchestrated them as the Choreographic Symphony and dated the manuscript July 1973. This is a memorable score, full of delicious contrasts, often percussion laden in a similar way to late Shostakovich. In the energetic and restless opening Allegro the forceful percussion seem to be jousting with the strings and the following Adagio is infused with an exotic middle-eastern flavor. Appealing is the playful and dance-like Allegretto and the dark mystery of the Adagio-Moderato is heavy with foreboding. Especially engaging, the penultimate movement an Adagio contains some gloriously melodic writing that could have easily come from the pen of Rachmaninov. Ending the work the Presto just bristles with raw energy. Towards the beginning of the movement the music contains a definite klezmer feel but overall has all the vivacious force of Prokofiev.

Illness delayed Weinberg’s writing of his Symphony No. 22 and it was left unfinished at his death in 1996. Dedicated to Olya his wife the unfinished manuscript was completed in piano version only. Weinberg’s widow suggested to Kirill Umansky that he might orchestrate the score. Immersing himself in Weinberg’s symphonic music Umansky completed the orchestration and the first performance was given by the Belgorod State Philharmonic Orchestra in 2003. The symphony steeped in melancholy is notable for its bleak rather severe character and sense of foreboding. I found little in the way of contrast throughout the three movements and although it’s not a work I especially enjoyed its intensity and severe emotions are certainly hard to ignore. At just under 25 minutes the opening movement is over double the length of the next longest. Titled Fantasia the writing contains a feeling of intense sadness and a searching quality combined with a near constant icy chill. Relatively short at just over 5 minutes the second movement an Intermezzo contains that now familiar bleakness although it’s not quite as harsh. Titled Reminiscences the Finale eschews originality returning to the austere character of the opening movement.

Under the assured baton of Dmitry Vasilyev the Siberian Symphony Orchestra excel with compelling playing of unyielding vitality in the Six Ballet Scenes and vigor matched with sheer concentration in the Symphony. Recorded at Philharmonic Concert Hall, Omsk in Siberia the sound quality is full and clear. The release also has the benefit of a helpful essay in the booklet from leading Weinberg authority David Fanning.

For those unaccustomed to Weinberg this admirably played release is not the place to start however the Six Ballet Scenes was a satisfying surprise and is worth obtaining for that alone.

– MusicWeb International (Michael Cookson)

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Weinberg: Music for Orchestral, Vol 2 / Vasilyev, Siberian Symphony
Toccata Jan 2016
CD
$20.99

BEETHOVEN: SYMPHONIES NOS. 3 EROICA 4 & 5

WARNER CLASSICS

Vinyl

$57.49 May 23, 2025

I waited a very long time to record the Beethoven symphonies, said Daniel Barenboim when this cycle was first released in 2000. "I waited for the music to mature in me - or me in it - and to find an orchestra that not only did what I asked it to do, but which really felt every detail in the music exactly as I did at the moment we were playing it. This is the greatest joy that a conductor can have." Beethoven's 9 Symphonies recorded by Daniel Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin for Teldec in 1999 will be released for the first time on vinyl, in 3 separate albums.

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BEETHOVEN: SYMPHONIES NOS. 3 EROICA 4 & 5
WARNER CLASSICS May 2025
Vinyl
$57.49

Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 3 in D Minor - Version 1873 & A

Profil

$32.99 Apr 17, 2026

A quest for absolute music Despite a number of setbacks, Bruckner's music has prevailed. His struggle for form and perfection was an expression of his deepest artistic conviction and an inner mission. Like Beethoven, he strove for 'absolute music': a soundscape beyond mere expression that speaks for itself. His Third Symphony in particular, the one 'where the trumpet begins the theme', is an impressive testimony to this aspiration, and it still moves us today: powerful, timeless, and true." Gerd Schaller

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Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 3 in D Minor - Version 1873 & A
Profil Apr 2026
CD
$32.99

Complete Symphonies, Op. 3 & 4

CPO

$51.99 Jul 17, 2026

The symphonic oeuvre of the still little-known composer Franz Ignaz Beck, the "Berlioz of the 18th century," is so crazily unconventional and bold that even today one can only marvel at the "modernity" of the contemporary Parisian audience, which was virtually at his feet. Beck turned out to be a progressive and individual "striker and pusher" in the truest sense of the word, opening up the expressive possibilities of his time far into the future. From Mannheim via Italy, Beck found his way to Marseille, where his symphonies developed into true centerpieces of the famous Parisian "Concerts spirituels" and went through numerous print runs. Our new set brings together six symphonies each from Opus 3 and 4. La Stagione on period instruments under the direction of Michael Schneider gives a brilliant and highly intense performance.

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Complete Symphonies, Op. 3 & 4
CPO Jul 2026
CD
$51.99

Gardner: Piano Concerto, Symphony No 1, Etc / Donohoe
Naxos Sep 2007
CD
$19.99

Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 - The 3 versions / Hruša, Bamberger Symphoniker

Accentus Music

$45.99 Oct 08, 2021

Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony occupies a special position in Anton Bruckner's symphonic cycle. It heralds the cycle of his "mature" symphonies and with it the composer addressed his audience directly and wanted to be understood by them. He succeeded in this - today the “Romantic” is one of Bruckner's most popular symphonies. Still, he revised it time and again and today there are three versions of it. With the Bamberg Symphony, which can draw on many years of Bruckner interpretation, Jakub Hrusa has now recorded all versions of the Fourth Symphony. For a conductor, it is a unique opportunity to be able to record all versions of a symphony. In addition, as Hrusa says, the project enables the interested audience to form their own opinion of the quality and tailoring of the respective version. In this way, listeners can decide for themselves whether the composer was right in his doubts, and whether it makes any sense at all to “pit” one version against the other.

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Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 - The 3 versions / Hruša, Bamberger Symphoniker
Accentus Music Oct 2021
CD
$45.99

Jan Van Gilse: Symphony No. 3 / Porcelijn, Netherlands Symphony Orchestra

CPO

$18.99 May 29, 2012

GILSE Symphony No. 3, “Elevation” • David Porcelijn, cond; Aile Asszonyi (sop); Netherlands SO • CPO 777518 (63:02 Text and Translation)

This is only my second encounter with the music of Jan van Gilse (1881–1944). His First and Second symphonies, recorded by these same forces and reviewed by James H. North in Fanfare 32:2, didn’t leave me with a lasting impression of the composer’s musical profile, so in requesting this release of his Third Symphony, I thought I’d give Gilse another shot.

Though he was Dutch by birth, Gilse was the product of German training, one of his teachers having been Humperdinck. Upon completing his studies, he secured conducting appointments in Bremen and Munich, but after the outbreak of World War I, he returned to the Netherlands, where he led the Utrecht Municipal Orchestra from 1917 to 1922. Apparently, his tenure was a stormy one in which a vitriolic dispute between Gilse and composer and critic Willem Pijper eventually led to Gilse’s resignation and the penning of a 350,000-word autobiography in which he heaped scorn on the heads of all those who had made his life in Utrecht miserable.

But Gilse was not all bitterness and payback. During the Second World War, he and his two sons joined the resistance movement against the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. His life, however, ended in tragedy, as he saw both sons killed by German troops and then succumbed himself, probably to pneumonia, soon after, not living long enough to see the war’s end.

Gilse completed his Third Symphony in 1907 while still in Bremen, including in its third and fifth movements a part for soprano soloist. Unfortunately, the English translation of John Smit’s album note by Susan Marie Praeder gives no explanation for the work’s title, “Elevation” ( Erhebung in its German publication), or its connection, if any, to the score’s verses.

The third-movement text appears to be a free verse poem by Gilse himself, dedicated in gratitude to Dina Mollinger-Hooijer, wife of the director of the Netherlands National Insurance Company. The love poem, which makes no attempt to hide its erotically charged imagery, leads one to read between the lines as to the reason for Gilse’s gratitude.

The fifth-movement text draws three stanzas from the equally suggestive erotic poetry of Solomon’s Song of Songs , though the particular verses Gilse selects don’t contain some of the text’s more explicit references.

If Gilse’s Second Symphony hints at Strauss, Elgar, and perhaps a touch of Mahler, as North noted in his review of that earlier work, the opening slow movement to his Third Symphony is almost pure Wagner in Tristan und Isolde mode; one waits for the face of the famous Liebestod to emerge at any moment from the granite slab Gilse is chiseling.

The second movement tosses us right into the middle of Strauss’s Don Juan . There are moments of resemblance so close they border on plagiarism.

For the third movement, we’re back to Wagner. Without benefit of a score, I can’t be sure, but on one of the soprano’s climactic notes at 3:43, Gilse’s underlying harmony sounds darn close to Wagner’s augmented ninth “Tristan” chord.

Improbable as it may seem, the fourth movement opens with what sounds like a pre-echo of Ravel’s La Valse , and then we’re back to part Richard Strauss and part parody of the waltzing Strausses.

The fifth and final movement, at almost 22 minutes in length, dwarfs all the others. Here’s the Elgar North mentioned that’s been missing up to this point. What a gorgeous ceremonial opening. Though it lacks the same striding gait, the music recalls to no small degree the magnificent processional that leads off Elgar’s First Symphony. Patience is advised, for the soprano doesn’t make her first entrance until the movement is more than half over. When she finally does, it’s Isolde’s soliloquy leading up to the final Liebestod.

Clearly, Gilse’s score is largely derivative and, as North put it, “pure high Romanticism.” But that’s exactly what should appeal about it to those who love to laze in luxuriant orchestral scores. Gilse may not have had an original idea in his head for this symphony—I can’t speak to any of his later works or to his opera, Thijl , reputedly his crowning achievement—but he demonstrates a sure hand when it comes to the craft of orchestration and of weaving a colorful, vibrant musical tapestry. Gilse’s Third Symphony displays the talent of a composer who could write wonderfully effective music, even if it was someone else’s.

As usual, CPO’s recording is up to the highest industry standards, and David Porcelijn, who has been delivering the goods for the label’s Röntgen project, here leads the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra in what seems to be a perfectly paced performance. Estonian soprano Aile Asszonyi, who has a high-lying, lighter-than-usual, but exceptionally focused voice, beams right in on the notes with laser-like precision. Gilse’s writing, which exploits the voice’s upper range, seems ideally suited to Asszonyi, and she repays the composer with beautifully sung performances in the two vocal movements.

If you love the music of Wagner and Strauss with a serving of Elgar on the side, you are guaranteed to enjoy this CD.

FANFARE: Jerry Dubins

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Jan Van Gilse: Symphony No. 3 / Porcelijn, Netherlands Symphony Orchestra
CPO May 2012
CD
$18.99

Sibelius: Symphonies 2 & 6 / Sir Colin Davis, London SO

RCA

$17.99 Feb 11, 2011

This second installment of Davis’s Sibelius cycle is purest gold. These performances command attention and will satisfy listeners for many years to come.

This second instalment of Davis’s new Sibelius cycle is purest gold. Hardly a phrase in these performances passes without new light being shed on it, and yet there is a strong feeling of spontaneity throughout. Davis’s readings are far from conventional; he often focuses on the darker sides of these symphonies, bringing out rarely heard depths in the Second and adding a fascinating new dimension to the Sixth. In both, he projects a strong sense of narrative and in the Second Symphony guides the argument toward the finale with overwhelming results – the appearance of the big tune gains immeasurably from a determined lack of sensationalism. Still more revealing is the finale of the Sixth: along with the expected ‘pastoral’ reflection he finds more than a hint of menace.

Davis is admirably served by the LSO. The strings respond to the detail of his interpretation with superb flexibility, and wind and brass groups are richly voiced. There is a wealth of magically observed orchestral detail, with the start of the slow movement of the Second Symphony – a polar-bear growl from the timpani and singing pizzicato – being especially memorable. These performances command attention and will satisfy listeners for many years to come.

Performance: 5 (out of 5), Sound: 5 (out of 5)

-- Jan Smaczny, BBC Music Magazine

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Sibelius: Symphonies 2 & 6 / Sir Colin Davis, London SO
RCA Feb 2011
CD
$17.99

Offenbach: Le Royaume de Neptune & Other Works / Griffiths, Deutsches Symphony Orchestra Berlin

CPO

$18.99 Nov 01, 2019

On his recently released Offenbach album featuring some of this composer’s unknown overtures, “Howard Griffiths is able to generate sparkling moments, dramatic buildups of suspense, highly expressive lyrical designs, and frequently suddenly occurring shifts of mood with absolutely outstanding success” (klassik-heute. com). And the latest Offenbach interpretation by Griffiths also does perfect justice to this composer’s highly effectively instrumented and melodically very appealing music while transmitting infectious zest for life. Orphee aux Enfers was Offenbach’s first international success and perhaps his most performed opera throughout the world – a landmark establishing a new genre known as the “Offenbachiade” and standing for societal satire in the form of music theater. The present album offers the essence of the orchestral numbers and ballet inserts composed for the version of Orpheus in the Underworld from 1874. The rediscovery of the magnificent ballet L’Atlantide or Le Royaume de Neptune (The Realm of Neptune) and its recording premiere on this album qualify as nothing short of sensational. Found under incredible circumstances by Jean-Christophe Keck in an old storage box, this music from the recently published volume of Keck’s Offenbach edition for Boosey & Hawkes / Bote & Bock accomplishes a very important task ranking first on the list of every composer’s desiderata by making available score material in its uncorrupted form. These gems are finely orchestrated and filled with magical melodies!

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Offenbach: Le Royaume de Neptune & Other Works / Griffiths, Deutsches Symphony Orchestra Berlin
CPO Nov 2019
CD
$18.99