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David Matthews: Anna: Symphonic Diptych; Symphony No. 11; Fl

SOMM Recordings

$20.99 Oct 17, 2025

SOMM Recordings is proud to present an album devoted to works by David Matthews, hailed as one of the leading symphonists of our time. His diverse output is superbly represented here by a Symphonic Diptych from his opera, Anna; his Symphony No. 11; and his Flute Concerto. The release features Dutch conductor Jac van Steen and the Ulster Orchestra, of which he is Honorary Principal Guest Conductor. Both are frequent SOMM collaborators, most recently on Manuel de Falla: The Three-Cornered Hat, Nights in the Gardens of Spain & Seven Spanish Folk Songs, SOMMCD 0694, about which Gramophone magazine wrote, "when van Steen unleashes the full orchestra... The tone is big and generous." They are joined by flautist Emma Halnan, winner of the BBC Young Musician Competition in 2010 in the woodwind category. She was also elected an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM) in the Academy's 2024 Honours, recognizing alumni of the Academy who have distinguished themselves in the music profession. Emma enjoys commissioning new works, and composers who have written for her include Sir Karl Jenkins, James Francis Brown, and, as here, David Matthews. David Matthews' first opera Anna had it's concert premiere at The Grange Hampshire in July 2023, conducted by Jac van Steen. Shortly afterwards, Jac suggested that David should make an orchestral reduction, as Strauss had done for his Intermezzo and Die Frau ohne Schatten. So, in this Symphonic Diptych, David has compressed the opera into two movements, one for each act-I. Anna in Love and II. Lament for Anna-which tell the story in purely orchestral terms about a brother (Peter) and sister (Anna) and their different reactions to the revolution that has just taken place in their country. In transferring all the vocal parts to instruments, David has slightly increased the opera's orchestra. In 2022, at the Presteigne Festival, David Matthews heard some striking trumpet playing at an orchestral concert. The next day, he wrote a few bars of quiet trumpet solo over a string chord. At first, he did not know what to do with this idea, until he thought it might be the beginning of a symphony, and so his single-movement Symphony No. 11 was conceived. He decided to preface it with an allegro D major/d minor theme, beginning on violas and moving to first violins, and these two ideas form the basis for a set of free variations. Considering the flute to be, essentially, a melodic instrument, David Matthews composed his Flute Concerto as alternating song and dance. The first movement combines a gentle allegretto with a fast waltz. The slow middle movement evokes a dance celebrating Pan, while the finale begins with a little tune that he wrote for his wife, Jenifer, at Christmas 2019, which has something of an Irish flavour. Siegfried Wagner was named for the young hero in Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle and immortalized in the Siegfried Idyll, included on this release. He was born to Richard Wagner and his future wife, Cosima (nee Liszt), on 6 June 1869. Although Siegfried considered following a profession outside music (and, as a youth, studied architecture in Berlin and in Karlsruhe), it was inevitable that he would follow a career in music given the lineage of both his parents and his grandfather, Franz Liszt. In addition to receiving instruction in music from Liszt, the thirteen-year-old Siegfried began his advanced musical studies in Frankfurt with Engelbert Humperdinck, a true disciple of Richard Wagner. Siegfried became an assistant at Bayreuth in 1892, immersing himself in his father's music under the strong influence of Cosima Wagner and the conductor Hans Richter. In 1895, he made his debut at Bayreuth conducting a complete Ring cycle. The debut was a considerable artistic success, and Siegfried's future as the true guardian of the Wagner inheritance was assured, as he took a greater share in the direction of the Bayreuth Festival. With Cosima's full endorsement, Siegfried assumed the general directorship from his mother in 1908. Siegfried's busy professional life was devoted in the main to Bayreuth in the 1920s, but it was also during this time that he began a recording career devoted almost exclusively to his father's and his own works. Apart from his evident qualities as a conductor of his father's music-heard here in the recorded legacy he left of his performances at Bayreuth and in Berlin and London-he was equally keen to establish himself as a composer. The first of his twelve completed operas, Der Barenhauter (Bearskin) inspired by the German fairytale, met with public and critical acclaim when it was produced in 1899. The acoustic recording of the overture is heard here. Among the Richard Wagner works conducted by Siegfried Wagner on this historic release are well-known selections from Das Rheingold and Die Walkure from the Ring Cycle. Also included are a suite from Parsifal and selections from Tannhauser, Lohengrin, and Tristan und Isolde.

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David Matthews: Anna: Symphonic Diptych; Symphony No. 11; Fl
SOMM Recordings Oct 2025
CD
$20.99

Mix & Match

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 1; Capriccio Italien / Poppen, German Radio Orchestra Kaiserslautern

Oehms Classics

$7.49 ~~$14.99~~ Save 50% Jul 27, 2010

TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 1 in g, “Winter Dreams.” Capriccio Italien • Christoph Poppen, cond; Southwest German RO • OEHMS 760 (57:57) Live: Saarbrücken 12/2007; Mainz 1/2010

This appears to be a sequel to Tchaikovsky’s Fourth with Poppen, reviewed in Fanfare 33:3. Is it part of an emerging cycle? I don’t know. I was not overly enthused with the earlier release, only because I felt Poppen’s reading of the Fourth, one of the composer’s more nervous-tic-ridden scores, needed a bit more in the way of the frenzied and the frenetic than the performance delivered. I concluded that if Poppen had brought as much urgency to the symphony as he did to the 1812 Overture that complemented it on the disc, the venture would have been more successful.

Tchaikovsky’s “Winter Dreams” Symphony is another animal altogether. Aside from the flash of drama here and there, the work is one of the composer’s loveliest lyrical creations. For Tchaikovsky, this first-born among his symphonies was perhaps his greatest labor of love. He worked on it tirelessly for at least eight years, from 1866 to 1874, making constant and sometime drastic revisions. I’d even go so far as to say that if he had left only four symphonies instead of six, the Second and Third would not be missed, for neither surpasses the First in formal construction, handling of materials, or sheer melodic inspiration.

My last encounter with a “new” Tchaikovsky First was a 1995 Arte Nova recording with Samuel Friedmann leading the Nizhny Novgorod Philharmonic, reviewed in 32:1. I thought it was very good, not quite equal perhaps to my longtime favorite with Michael Tilson Thomas and the Boston Symphony Orchestra on a 1970 Deutsche Grammophon recording, but still quite successful in capturing Tchaikovsky’s musical portraiture.

Much the same may be said of this recent recording by Poppen and his Southwest German Radio Orchestra forces. The recording has excellent perspective and presence, and Poppen’s reading of the score is well balanced and nicely characterized. I especially liked his fantasy-spun Adagio (“Land of Desolation, Land of Mists”), which morphs perfectly from a feeling of finding oneself alone and forlorn into that most human of reactions to such circumstances, escape into a state of semi-conscious reverie.

With so many recordings of the symphony and the Capriccio Italien (nearly 100 of the latter!) competing for your attention and dollars, it would be a tough case to make that Poppen’s, at full price, can lay claim to being better than any number of others. Just saying it’s at least as good as any number of others, and perhaps better than a few, seems to me recommendation enough, should you happen to be in the market for a new recording of these works.

FANFARE: Jerry Dubins

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Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 1; Capriccio Italien / Poppen, German Radio Orchestra Kaiserslautern
Oehms Classics Jul 2010
CD
~~$14.99~~ $7.49

Stravinsky: The Soldier's Tale / SImovic, Sinclair, LSO Chamber Ensemble

LSO LIVE

$14.99 Jun 15, 2018

Violinist Roman Simovic directs the LSO Chamber Ensemble - a septet featuring veteran principal players from across the LSO including bassoonist Rachel Gough, clarinetist Andrew Marriner, percussionist Neil Percy and trumpet player Philip Cobb - in Stravinsky's The Soldier's Tale. This theatrical work, 'to be read, played and danced,' is based on a Russian folk tale about a soldier who trades his fiddle for unparalleled economic gain. British stage and television actor Malcom Sinclair narrates, leading audience members through the soldier's regretful decision.

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Stravinsky: The Soldier's Tale / SImovic, Sinclair, LSO Chamber Ensemble
LSO LIVE Jun 2018
CD
$14.99

Schubert: Orchestral Works

BIS

SACD

$21.99 Oct 14, 2014

On the final disc of a complete cycle, Thomas Dausgaard and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra offer Franz Schubert's first two symphonies as well as two fillers, of which one is the rarely heard Funeral March from the unfinished opera Adrast. Both youthful symphonies betray influences of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven; nevertheless, they contain abundant proof of Schubert's burgeoning melodic genius. The previous discs in the cycle have met with critical acclaim and distinctions, with reviewers welcoming the fresh approach towards the undisputed masterpieces and the less familiar works.

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Schubert: Orchestral Works
BIS Oct 2014
SACD
$21.99

MAESTRO: MUSIC BY LEONARD BERNSTEIN - O.S.T.

DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON

$17.49 Dec 01, 2023

Yannick Nezet-Seguin/London Symphony Orchestra/Bradley Cooper - "Maestro: Music by Leonard Bernstein (Original Soundtrack)" Deutsche Grammophon is proud to partner with Netflix to release the original soundtrack recording from one of the most anticipated films of the year: Bradley Cooper's MAESTRO. Featuring Yannick Nezet-Seguin conducting the music of Leonard Bernstein with the London Symphony Orchestra. Verve Label Group; Deutsche Grammophon; Soundtrack/Classical

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MAESTRO: MUSIC BY LEONARD BERNSTEIN - O.S.T.
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON Dec 2023
CD
$17.49

Prokofiev: Romeo & Julia; Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4

BR Klassik

$29.99 Nov 14, 2025

Sir Georg Solti was a frequent guest conductor with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Born in Hungary in 1912, he played a decisive role in rebuilding the Bavarian National Theatre after the war. From the 1960s onwards, he was considered one of the world's leading conductors alongside Leonard Bernstein and Herbert von Karajan. Georg Solti returned to Munich once more for a special concert on February 10, 1984, with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residenz. Aged 71 and at the height of his career, he conducted excerpts from Sergei Prokofiev's ballet Romeo and Juliet and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony. Works by these two Russian composers, as well as Bruckner and Mahler, suited him particularly well, as they sounded musically spirited and exceptionally transparent. Prokofiev's three-act ballet Romeo and Juliet was written in 1935 for the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, but it's premiere did not take place until 1938, in Brno in the Czech Republic. At the special concert in Munich in 1984 with Georg Solti, fifteen numbers from the ballet music were performed in chronological order. Pyotr Tchaikovsky dedicated his Fourth Symphony - composed in 1877/78 at the same time as his opera Eugene Onegin - to his patron Nadezhda von Meck. Despite their lengthy correspondence, they never actually met. In a letter to her dated March 1878, Tchaikovsky outlined the feelings he had experienced while composing his Fourth Symphony, though no specific programme can be discerned from them.

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Prokofiev: Romeo & Julia; Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4
BR Klassik Nov 2025
CD
$29.99

Mix & Match

Bruckner: Symphony No 5 / Thielemann, Dresden Staatskapelle [blu-ray]

C Major Entertainment

Blu-Ray

$18.99 ~~$37.99~~ Save 50% Oct 28, 2014

This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.

Also available on standard DVD

Christian Thielemann and the Staatskapelle Dresden are continuing their internationally acclaimed Bruckner cycle with the Symphony No. 5. For Anton Bruckner, his Fifth Symphony was a glorious confrontation with the music of the past – from a personal, biographical angle, but also as a departure from the composition techniques he preferred up to this point. Not for nothing is this tremendous opus magnum regarded as Bruckner’s “contrapuntal masterpiece”. In this universally lauded performance, Christian Thielemann, already the leading Bruckner interpreter of our times, has once again proven himself to be a “magician of the Bruckner sound”. (Kurier)

Anton Bruckner
SYMPHONY NO. 5
(Blu-ray Disc Version)

Dresden Staatskapelle
Christian Thielemann, conductor

Recorded live at the Semperoper, Saxon State Opera, Dresden, 2013

Picture format: 1080i High Definition
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: English, German, French
Running time: 89 mins
No. of Discs: 1 (BD 25)

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Bruckner: Symphony No 5 / Thielemann, Dresden Staatskapelle [blu-ray]
C Major Entertainment Oct 2014
Blu-Ray
~~$37.99~~ $18.99

Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2 - Version for Piano Duet / Calleghan, Takenouchi

Nimbus

$20.99 Nov 04, 2022

Simon Callaghan & Hiroaki Takenouchi write: “As long ago as the eighteenth century, composers were arranging orchestral works for two pianos or for piano duet, making them more domestically accessible and exposing their compositions to a wider audience. Four-hand piano versions abound of symphonies by Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, Haydn and more. Since Rachmaninoff focused mainly on the piano, we were surprised to be unable to find a two-piano arrangement by the composer himself of his Symphony No. 2, particularly since he arranged his own first and third symphonies for four hands. Such was the popularity of the Second Symphony that Vladimir Wilschau (1868-1957) created a four hands arrangement in 1910, just two years after the premiere in St Petersburg under the composer’s baton. Our objective in creating this new arrangement was to remain as faithful to the original as practically possible. We set out to embrace not only the capabilities of the two pianos but also their limitations – we wanted to create a true piano work, rather than a less-than-satisfactory imitation of the orchestral version. Of course, our motivation was also to be able to enjoy playing this magnificent masterpiece which we had cherished for as long as we could remember!”

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Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2 - Version for Piano Duet / Calleghan, Takenouchi
Nimbus Nov 2022
CD
$20.99

ELGAR: SYMPHONY NO. 2 & MARCHES

ALTO

$11.49 Jan 10, 2020

This recording of Elgar's 2nd Symphony has garnered lavish praise; Classic FM proclaimed it the most passionate and detailed account with the world-class playing of the LSO. BBC Radio 3 while nominating it the top budget choice, described it as being "Larger than life, but capturing every mood with humanity and tenderness". The Guardian and Sunday Times included it in their list of best releases of 2002 and the Penguin Guide chose to highlight the breathtaking gentleness, glorious brass and remarkable dynamic range.

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ELGAR: SYMPHONY NO. 2 & MARCHES
ALTO Jan 2020
CD
$11.49

Still: Symphonies 2 & 3, Wood Notes / Jeter, Fort Smith Symphony

Naxos

$19.99 Dec 13, 2011

Committed recordings of works by a “golden age” American finally coming into his own on disc.

3553320.az_STILL_Symphony_2.html

STILL Symphony No. 2, “Song of a New Race.” Symphony No. 3, “Sunday Symphony.” Wood Notes • John Jeter, cond; Fort Smith S • NAXOS 8.559676 (61:39)

With this disc, Naxos and the present performers conclude their three-CD series of William Grant Still’s symphonies, plus other orchestral works. I reviewed the second volume (Symphonies 4 and 5, and the Poem for Orchestra— Naxos 8.559603) for another publication, and was quite beguiled. I feel the same way this time around. This music is impossible not to like, and conductor John Jeter and his orchestra from Arkansas, the state in which the young composer spent part of his childhood, are effective advocates.

Wood Notes , a work from 1947 that is receiving its first recording here, is a suite of four movements: “Singing River,” “Autumn Night,” “Moon Dusk,” and “Whippoorwill’s Shoes.” The titles suggest that the music will be picturesque, and, in the best sense of the word, simple, and indeed it is. If there is such a thing as an American Pastoral school of composers, Still would be its dean. The Currier and Ives prints that have adorned the booklet covers in this series have been very appropriate, as they project an innocence that is also one of the strongest characteristics of Still’s music. Imagine Delius at his least Impressionistic, Dvo?ák at his least academic, and Jerome Kern at his most classical, and that might give you an idea of what Still’s music sounds like. (Nevertheless, Varèse was one of his teachers!)

The Second Symphony, premiered with great success by Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1937, is “a vision of an integrated society.” In terms of form, this is a bit more ambitious than Wood Notes , but Still’s writing is so unpretentious, tuneful, and relaxed that one can’t help asking what makes this work more symphonic than the other. The mood is sometimes wistful and often hopeful, and Still, when he is not embracing the listener outright, is at least holding his hand, or throwing his arm around his shoulder. Not surprisingly, African-American elements, both traditional and more popular (jazzy), are prominent in this work.

The “Sunday Symphony” dates from 1958. Again, naming its movements will give the reader an idea of what the music sounds like: “Awakening,” “Prayer,” “Relaxation,” and “Day’s End and a New Beginning.” Only 18 minutes long, this symphony is as suitelike as its predecessor, every bit as ingratiating, and even more uncomplicated. Appropriately, “Prayer” is the longest movement, and it builds to a soulful climax. “Awakening” and “Relaxation” both chatter away companionably, and the last movement brings the symphony to its resolute and affirmative conclusion.

I don’t get the feeling that this music makes exorbitant demands on an orchestra. The Fort Smith Symphony, a lean-sounding ensemble in the manner of Howard Hanson’s Eastman-Rochester group, puts Still’s music across capably and with sympathy. (I would have liked to have heard Stokowski and the Philadelphians play the Second Symphony, though!)

It is tempting to call this music naive, but I think to do so would say more about our lack of innocence as listeners, than about any lack of sophistication on the part of William Grant Still.

FANFARE: Raymond Tuttle

------

For much of his life William Grant Still was invariably referred an army going into battle with a lovely central section describing t to as the “Dean of African-American Composers”. Though his music partakes of many African-American elements, it also demonstrates his varied training under Chadwick and Varese and the many years he spent writing music for jazz bands, radio, music and television. Today Still can be seen simply as one of that number of American nationalist composers who came to maturity between the wars.

In the late 1920s Still began a musical trilogy that would portray the African-American experience in the U.S.: Africa, a tone poem describing the original homeland; the Symphony No. 1 ( African-American) describing the years leading to the Emancipation Proclamation; and the Symphony No. 2 ( Song of a New Race) describing a future where African-Americans would take equal part in the destiny of their country.

The Symphony No. 2 is a major work, blending jazz, blues and gospel elements with a nationalist feeling akin to that of the Eastman School. All of the movements are relatively slow (cf. Vaughan Williams’ Symphony No. 3). The slow movement proper is the most beautiful and expressive, while the “moderately slow” finale shows Still’s great technical skill as he joins thematic elements of all four movements into an emotionally satisfying conclusion.

Wood Notes is a suite evocative of nature in the American South. Each of the four pieces begins with simple, almost trivial material, which Still then transforms into something far more poignant than one would have expected.

While numbered as the third, The Sunday Symphony was the last of Still’s five symphonies to be written. It describes the typical Sunday of a churchgoer (Still was quite devout) and while not as profound as the Symphony No. 2 it is equally sincere and more compact in expression. The opening movement is full of energy, somewhat reminiscent of Gershwin, but with modal elements and scoring reminiscent of the Big Bands. In the Prayer movement Still develops the main melody for English horn to a poetic coda in his best style. Relaxation is very simple, while the last movement alternates resolution worthy of wilight and the thoughts of the worshipper as he prepares for th e coming day.

The key to performing Still’s music is to concentrate on his obvious sincerity and technical ability, while not letting his tendency towards sentimentality to overwhelm all else. John Jeter realizes this and wisely brings out the positive elements, demonstrating complete control of his players (especially regarding rhythm) and deriving enthusiastic performances. The Fort Smith (Arkansas) Symphony has some troubles with ensemble, but the overall sound is lush, as much of the music requires. This disc completes the Naxos series of the Still symphonies. While there are other impressive recordings of the first two symphonies, Jeter faces no real competition with the last three, and the entire set can be recommended to all fans of American music.

-- William Kreindler , MusicWeb International

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Still: Symphonies 2 & 3, Wood Notes / Jeter, Fort Smith Symphony
Naxos Dec 2011
CD
$19.99

Ippolitov-Ivanov: Mtzyri, Symphony no 1 / Brain, Bamberg SO

Conifer Records

$17.99 Mar 29, 2007

A vibrant selection of pictorial-impressionist exotica.

This disc made little impression when first issued and the undertow caused by the fall of Conifer delivered the coup de grace. It certainly deserves better if you have a taste for Russian nationalism.

Mtzyri is a nice piece of Russo-Oriental pictorial-impressionist exotica. Its elements include a Sheherazade-sinuous song for solo violin and the minaret and the muezzin are never far away. Think in terms of a more lucidly orchestrated brother of Balakirev's Tamara and the tragic-tormented aspects of Tchaikovsky’s Manfred. It’s all done with real conviction and soprano Barainsky (13:20) holds an impressive high note with throbbing invincibility.

The Symphony is lively enough and wends its way between Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov - nearer to Tchaikovsky. The quiet shuddering footfall in the third movement recalls the Capriccio Italien.

The booklet notes - now standard in ArkivMusic licensed discs - are by Toccata's Martin Anderson and are therefore a rewarding read in their own right. They are in English, French and German. They paint in the details of the life and music with a fine brush.

A minor gripe is that despite there being plenty of space we have only one attractive segment of the Caucasian Sketches - the composer's only claim to popularity. There was room for the whole suite.

This is a handsome offering and something to tantalise until we can hear his other works. There are six operas including The Last Barricade (1933-34) which has as its subject the Paris Commune. We would do well in our safety and superiority not to hold against him that, as the times dictated, ‘patriotic’ pieces were required and were delivered: Song of Stalin, Hymn to Work, Voroshilov March, The Year 1917. Further afield there is a Catalan Suite and a four movement work, Karelia - possibly intended as his Second Symphony. Other folk-influenced material include An Evening in Georgia, Musical Pictures of Uzbekistan, On the Steppes of Turkmenistan and Turkish Fragments.

If you would like to delve beyond this disc try Naxos 8.553405 (Caucasian Sketches – suites 1 and 2), Marco Polo 8.223629 (Yar-Khmel, Ossian Tableaux, Jubilee March and Episode from life of Schubert etc) and Marco Polo 8.220217 (Symphony 1 and Turkish Fragments).

Gary Brain is a sensitive and confident advocate for this largely unknown music. It is to his credit that he continues to champion the wilder periphery. His discography includes the Truscott Symphony (Marco Polo) and a cycle of orchestral discs presenting music by Polish-Swiss composer, Czeslaw Marek (Koch International).

-- Rob Barnett, MusicWeb International

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Ippolitov-Ivanov: Mtzyri, Symphony no 1 / Brain, Bamberg SO
Conifer Records Mar 2007
CD
$17.99

Potter: Complete Symphonies, Vol. 2

CPO

$18.99 Jan 03, 2025

Unlike his namesake Harry, Cypriani Potter did not learn his craft at Hogwarts, but with renowned British composers and then put the finishing touches to his music in Vienna - above all with Ludwig van Beethoven, who undoubtedly taught him some particularly effective tricks. In any case, there is an unmistakable magic in his works: at times it is delightful melodies, at others dramatic energy build-ups or rhythmically urgent episodes that give his music such an appeal that it is worth recording all of his surviving symphonies (nine, after all) and garnishing them with a few smaller pieces - in the present program, for example, with the Overture to Shakespeare's Tempest and with the original Concertante for piano and four strings on the popular theme La Follia, which Potter animates to a veritable outburst of temperament.

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Potter: Complete Symphonies, Vol. 2
CPO Jan 2025
CD
$18.99

Mahler: Symphony No 6 / Haenchen, La Monnaie Symphony Orchestra

ICA Classics

DVD

$26.99 Feb 22, 2011

This outstanding performance of Mahler’s Sixth Symphony formed part of Hartmut Haenchen’s Mahler Cycle with the La Monnaie Symphony Orchestra. Haenchen is renowned and respected for his interpretations of Mahler and Wagner and has had a significant presence in many of the world’s leading opera houses. An expressive and dramatic rendition of the Tragische, Haenchen’s high intellect and musical integrity are apparent. The recording also benefits from DTS 5.1 surround sound.

The ICA Classics Live series features performances from ICA’s own artists recorded in prestigious venues around the world. The majority of the recordings are enjoying their first commercial release.

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Mahler: Symphony No 6 / Haenchen, La Monnaie Symphony Orchestra
ICA Classics Feb 2011
DVD
$26.99

Rawsthorne: Symphony No 1 - 3 / Lloyd-jones, Et Al

Naxos

$19.99 Feb 22, 2005

The liner notes of this release compare Alan Rawsthorne (1905–1971) to Brahms in that both composers left their first symphonies until relatively late in life. This implies that Rawsthorne was a meticulous craftsman, which is true, but also that he was awed as Brahms was by the idea of creating a post-Beethoven symphony, for which there is little evidence. In Rawsthorne’s case, a First Symphony was delayed until the composer was 45 because he came late to his trade. He was initially drawn to dentistry, and then to architecture. Rawsthorne was 20 when he entered the Manchester College of Music, and the fact that he afterwards continued his piano studies abroad with the great Egon Petri points to possible attempts at a pedagogic career, or on the concert stage. He returned to Britain in 1932, and moved to London at the age of 30—finally, with the intention of devoting himself to composition.

Rawsthorne’s Symphony No. 1 received its premiere in 1950 after a succession of orchestral works of merit: the Symphonic Studies (1938), the Piano Concerto No. 1 (1942), the Violin Concerto No. 1 (1948), and the Concerto for String Orchestra (1949). The work was hailed in print as “a major event in English musical life,” but had to wait 25 years for its first recording. It is a dense, knotty effort of great seriousness, typical of this composer in its avoidance of flamboyant rhetoric. His Symphony No. 2, subtitled “A Pastoral Symphony,” appeared in 1959: a work of greater transparency and less harmonic ambiguity than the First, with an especially beautiful slow movement and a Puckishly witty scherzo that brings Roussel to mind. The Third Symphony of 1964 is as grim, complex, and harmonically acerbic as the First, but within a less emotionally ambivalent setting, and one that employs more of the tension-release pattern of traditional symphonic development.

Rawsthorne’s style is out of Hindemith, pursuing polytonal pathways through the use of motto themes often presented in different keys, simultaneously. This gives him considerable flexibility of harmonic movement, though the unfluctuating textural intensity of the First Symphony creates an air of stasis. The lighter, more malleable Second is an exceedingly attractive piece, however, while the Third Symphony can be viewed as the First reconsidered from a higher, more experienced vantage point. Through all three works runs a sense of granitic integrity and consummate craft. Rawsthorne can certainly produce an ear-bending tune. His Second Symphony has several memorable ones. But he never relies upon a good melody to carry the weight of his musical argument, and he’s almost certain to put that melody to good contrapuntal use before he’s finished with it.

All three works were last recorded in the late 1970s and released on LP in excellent sound. Those analog performances (with the London Philharmonic in the first two symphonies and the BBC SO, led by Pritchard, Braithwaite, and Del Mar, respectively) were in turn gathered onto Lyrita SRCD291, a recording that may still be found with some foreign distributors. They are attractive readings, with Braithwaite’s Second arguably the best: a finely lyrical performance from an underrated conductor. Yet, all three readings are surpassed by David Lloyd-Jones on this new release. He emphasizes lucid textures and a proper balance of Rawsthorne’s multiple lines. This strengthens the angularity and unsettled quality in the music, giving even the congested First a sense of direction and purpose. The clarity of the digital engineering helps greatly, and the playing of the Bournemouth Symphony is first-rate. This is definitely the album to buy, with a respectful tip of the hat to Naxos for adding it to a fine series on a neglected modern master.

Barry Brenesal, FANFARE

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Rawsthorne: Symphony No 1 - 3 / Lloyd-jones, Et Al
Naxos Feb 2005
CD
$19.99

Corrette: Symphonies Des Noëls, Concertos Comiques / Arion, Et Al

Early-music.com

$18.99 Nov 18, 2008

CORRETTE Symphonies des noëls: No. 2 in D; No. 4 in D; No. 5 in a; No. 6 in A. Concertos comiques: No. 4, “Le quadrille”; No. 7; No. 19, “La Turque”; No. 24; No. 25, “Les sauvages et la Furstemberg” • Arion (period instruments) • EARLY-MUSIC.COM 7768 (67:32)

What a delightful disc this is! These examples of light, humorous music still amuse us nearly 300 years after they were written. Michel Corrette may have been more important for his work in fields other than composition. He published 15 methods to instruct students in all of the common instruments. He was active as a publisher of his own works and the music of others. But he also was very active as a composer of, among other things, cantatas, ballets, motets, organ pieces, harpsichord sonatas, and symphonies. He was the first composer in France to compose concertos for wind instruments and for organ.

Today Corrette is probably best remembered for his 25 Concertos comiques , published between 1733 and 1760. The concertos are based on well-known songs and popular tunes. Corrette performed these delightful works during the intermissions of performances of the Opéra-comique at the St. Laurent and St. Germain fairs. The Symphonies des noëls are suites of variations based on popular noëls, which are “profane airs, dance tunes, drinking songs, and New Year’s pieces” according to one description. The melodies are immensely pleasing, and Corrette’s variations testify to his enjoyment in working with them.

The music is performed by seven members of the Canadian period-instrument group Arion. Their tempos are lively but not rushed. The performers are obviously very talented and expert.

This recording was issued on the Atma label in 1999; it does not seem to have been reviewed in Fanfare . Two of the Noëls and Concerto comique No. 25 are available elsewhere, but there is no other collection that allows us to hear so many of these splendid works. I cannot imagine anyone whose spirits would not be lifted immediately on hearing this disc. My only regret is that Arion did not follow up with recordings of the other works from these two collections. Highly recommended.

FANFARE: Ron Salemi

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Corrette: Symphonies Des Noëls, Concertos Comiques / Arion, Et Al
Early-music.com Nov 2008
CD
$18.99

Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 / Poschner, ORF Vienna Radio Symphony

Capriccio

$21.99 May 05, 2023

Bruckner’s frantic revisions of his symphonies Nos. 3, 4, and 8 were borne out of his disappointment with Hermann Levi rejecting the original version of the 8th symphony. Helping in this large-scale revamping effort were former Bruckner-students Franz and Joseph Schalk, Ferdinand Löwe, Max von Oberleithner, and Cyrill Hynai, which resulted in these versions’ reputation – and especially that of the last version of the 4th – being varnished as something not quite Echt-Bruckner.

It wasn’t until the discovery of photographs of the 1888 version’s manuscript score and the subsequent publication of Benjamin Korstvedt’s edition thereof that it became clear: This late edition really did reflect Bruckner’s intentions. To ears familiar with the still better-known 1881 version, the result might sound mystifying, even troubling, but it also surprises with many particularly exquisite passages!

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Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 / Poschner, ORF Vienna Radio Symphony
Capriccio May 2023
CD
$21.99

SYMPHONY NO.2
Sterling Records Aug 2013
CD
$20.99

DIE SINFONIEN
Coviello Sep 2012
SACD
$106.99

COMPLETE RECORDINGS ON DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON

ELOQUENCE AUSTRALIA

$76.99 Aug 22, 2025

'Karajan's producer' on the podium - the complete recordings of Otto Gerdes for Deutsche Grammophon, including previously unpublished material and displaying some of the most thrilling versions of orchestral masterpieces to be recorded. Reviews for these recordings reached for superlatives: "a stunning disc from first moment to last" (Brahms 4); "Luminous sound" (Eugene Onegin); "rather sweeps the field" (Dvorak 9); "silence[s] all criticism" (Tannhauser); "Trenchant interpretation" (Wagner Symphony in C). The 1961-62 cycle of Beethoven symphonies conducted by Herbert von Karajan is still celebrated for it's technical as well as musical excellence. The recording producer was Otto Gerdes, who had joined DG in 1956 after working as a producer for Eterna in the former East Germany. He had trained as a conductor under Hermann Abendroth in his home city of Cologne and continued to conduct opera and concerts in Germany and Italy through the 1950s and 60s. A notorious confrontation with Karajan led to Gerdes resuming his full-time career as a conductor, which led to a complete recording of Wagner's Tannhauser for DG, and the first stereo version of the composer's early Symphony in C. Tannhauser was cast with singers in their prime - Birgit Nilsson, Wolfgang Windgassen and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau - and German-language highlights of Eugene Onegin and Otello featured Fritz Wunderlich (as Lensky) and Fischer-Dieskau (as Otello). In the early 1960s, Gerdes made three 'test recordings' with the Berlin Philharmonic: The Fourth Symphony of Brahms, the 'New World' by Dvorak and a collection of Wagner preludes. When released on LP, the symphonies were enthusiastically received for their old-school ebb and flow and Romantic intensity of expression. The Wagner recordings show Gerdes in full command of 'Karajan's orchestra'. The complete album of Hugo Wolf's orchestral music is released on CD in it's entirety for this first time, recorded live at the Musikverein in Vienna in 1968. This features Thomas Stewart and Evelyn Lear in the composer's own orchestrations of his Lieder, as well as the Italian Serenade, and the rarely heard but enthralling tone-poem Penthesilea which shows Wolf at his most passionately inspired. Additionally, there is a whole disc of previously unpublished material - overtures, ballet music and intermezzi. Compiled together for the first time in an 'Original Jackets' box, the DG recordings of Otto Gerdes pay tribute to a forgotten but significant figure in the recording world of the 1960s. The eventful story of Gerdes's career is told in a new essay by Peter Quantrill, and all the recordings have been newly remastered.

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COMPLETE RECORDINGS ON DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON
ELOQUENCE AUSTRALIA Aug 2025
CD
$76.99

Sibelius: Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 43 / Kitajenko, Cologne Gurzenich Orchestra

Oehms Classics

$14.99 Jun 08, 2018

The influential critic Karl Flodin commented after the premiere of Sibelius’ Second Symphony: “A symphonic poem the like of Sibelius’ Second Symphony has never been heard before, it’s something rarely heard in the genre of modern symphony. The more you listen to this brilliant work, the more powerful its contours seem, the deeper its soul appears and the more striking become the clues which hint at an understanding of this composition.” OehmsClassics has found the perfect partners for this recording with Dmitrij Kitajenko and the Gurzenich Orchestra Cologne and has complimented Sebelius’ Second Symphony with two delightful short pieces by Edvard Grieg. The Gürzenich Orchestra of Cologne is one of Germany’s leading orchestras and can look back on a great tradition. Since 1986 the ensemble’s home has been at the Kölner Philharmonie, where it presents about 50 concerts annually, simultaneously giving over 160 performances a year at the Cologne Opera.

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Sibelius: Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 43 / Kitajenko, Cologne Gurzenich Orchestra
Oehms Classics Jun 2018
CD
$14.99

Dvorak: Symphony No. 7; Scherzo capriccioso

BR Klassik

$19.99 Feb 07, 2025

The Dutch conductor Bernard Haitink and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra enjoyed a long and intensive artistic collaboration, which came to an abrupt end with Haitink's death in October 2021. BRKLASSIK now presents outstanding and previously unreleased live recordings of their concerts from past years. This recording of Dvorak's Seventh Symphony documents a concert given in March 1981 in the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residenz. The "Scherzo capriccioso" is a studio recording, also from March 1981. Following the success of Antonin Dvorak's first visit to London in 1884, the London Philharmonic Society asked him to return the following year and to compose a new symphony for the occasion. It was an honourable request - after all, the London Philharmonic Society had commissioned Beethoven's Ninth Symphony six decades earlier! When Dvorak began sketching out the symphony on December 13, 1884, he was well aware of the high expectations involved - both his own and those of others. Most music critics and Dvorak biographers, however, have struggled with the interpretation of this exceptional piece. For example, it has been interpreted "politically" against the background of the growing German-Czech tensions of those years. But the existential power of the D minor Symphony - it's anger, it's expansive pessimism, i.e. it's confessional character - may also derive from the biography and personality of it's composer, which were probably far more complex, painful and problematic than any "Bohemian idyll" we might assume. Even in Dvorak's Eighth Symphony, which is considered to be more cheerful, and in his last symphony, "From the New World", one can still detect a more or less latent tendency towards tragic longing. The world premiere of the Seventh Symphony took place on April 22, 1885 in London, with the composer conducting. It became one of Dvorak's greatest successes. Dvorak's Scherzo capriccioso of 1883 is certainly more than just a filler on this CD. The fact that it is more dramatic and passionate than it's playful title suggests is probably due to the fact that it was written at a time of crisis in the composer's life. The work is an elaborate composition of convincing craftsmanship

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Dvorak: Symphony No. 7; Scherzo capriccioso
BR Klassik Feb 2025
CD
$19.99

Jones: Symphonies No 4, 7, 8 / Groves, Thomson, Et Al

Lyrita

$20.99 May 01, 2007

JONES Symphonies: No. 4, “In memory of Dylan Thomas” ; No. 7; No. 8 1 • Charles Groves, cond; Bryden Thomson, cond; 1 Royal PO; BBC Welsh SO 1 • LYRITA 329 (78:05)

Welsh composer Daniel Jones (1912–1993) was born in Pembroke and raised in Swansea, where he forged a friendship with the poet Dylan Thomas. After study in Swansea, Jones moved to London’s Royal Academy of Music. His output included concertos for violin, oboe, and cello; choral music, including the Oratorio, St. Peter ; an opera, The Knife ; chamber music; and 13 symphonies. Jones’s musical language is essentially tonal. He originated a rhythmic method for heightened expression—a device that he called “complex meters” involving maintaining and often juxtaposing, complex and often-irregular time signatures over a long timespan. Musically, Jones was influenced by Purcell, Haydn, and Janá?ek, but his language is personal. His symphonies can be broadly divided into three groups: Symphonies Nos. 1–5 (1944–58), conceived within the late-Romantic symphonic tradition and scored for large forces; Symphonies Nos. 6–9 (1964–72) moving towards greater structural experimentation, unusual combinations of instruments, and shorter lengths; and Symphonies Nos. 10–13 (1976–92) concerned with concision and paring down germ ideas to the barest essentials.

Daniel Jones’s Fourth Symphony, considered to be one of the composer’s finest achievements, was composed in memory of the poet Dylan Thomas, who had died, tragically young, in New York on November 17, 1953. Their relationship had been close; they had shared a zest for life. It was Jones who had written the folk-like music for Under Milk Wood. The Symphony is, understandably, elegiac; the opening Maestoso movement speaks bleakly of tragedy and loss, with a sometimes funeral-march tread, but also of defiance. The central Allegro capriccioso scampers along; it is light-hearted and capricious. Its playfulness might suggest the larger-than-life characters from Under Milk Wood , and perhaps the real-life antics of composer and poet, while its slower, sadder, middle section is more reflective, sometimes darkly so; it has a vulnerability, a sadness—and regret? The final Adagio-moderato-adagio is turbulent and disturbing; the music’s violence seemingly released reluctantly in a brief coda that highlights a solo violin with pizzicato cellos and basses.

The Seventh Symphony is cast in five movements, although the fourth and fifth share the same track. Completed in 1972 and dedicated to Sir Charles Groves, it was written as a commission from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The work has an unsettling ambiguity, the music often lurking in dark corners and having many abrupt contradictions. The most immediately appealing material is in the quicksilver Scherzando that employs a xylophone to heighten its puckish, tipsy fun, but even here tragedy stalks. The Eighth Symphony has five movements too. The music is enigmatic and ferocious, lyrical and searching, and not without a sardonic wit. Its extraordinary, arresting opening chords are sounded on marimba. Imaginative orchestrations abound: the often-spectral third movement has some amazing interchanges between piano and vibraphone; the elegiac fourth movement includes harmonic passages for kettledrums under heartfelt music for strings, muted trumpets, and softly played trombones; and the high-spirited finale sounds triumphant trumpets and tubular bells.

Strong performances of some quite original music. A rewarding disc for the adventurous.

FANFARE: Ian Lace

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Jones: Symphonies No 4, 7, 8 / Groves, Thomson, Et Al
Lyrita May 2007
CD
$20.99

SCHNITTKE: CON FOR PNO & STRS / PROKOFIEV: SYM 2

CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA

SACD

$22.99 Nov 05, 2021

The third album on The Cleveland Orchestra's label follows the 'old-new' pairing of their previous release, showcasing recordings of Prokofiev and Schnittke that cover both preand post-pandemic music-making. Prokofiev's Symphony No.2 is a beautiful and exquisitely fashioned gem, inspired by the early 20th century's fascination with mechanics and industry, and the everchanging world during that era. Franz Welser-Most sees the work as "a fascinating examination both of the World War itself and a reflection on how it changed people's views. This is a far-sighted view of Modernity, and shows us an Expressionist spirit that is still deeply moving - and disturbing - today." Schnittke's Concerto for Piano and Strings, featuring pianist Yefim Bronfman with the orchestra's strings, was recorded at Cleveland's Severance Hall, during the midst of Covid-19 restrictions, as part of the orchestra's new In Focus digital broadcast series.

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SCHNITTKE: CON FOR PNO & STRS / PROKOFIEV: SYM 2
CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA Nov 2021
SACD
$22.99

Respighi: Works for Flute and Orchestra / Fabbriciani, Paszkowski, Abruzzese Symphony Orchestra

Tactus

$21.99 Apr 02, 2021

This album is dedicated to the works for flute and orchestra by Ottorino Respighi - a leading exponent of the “Generation of the Eighties” and a very refined composer, gifted with an excellent skill in the use of instrumental timbres - includes the world premiere recording of two works for flute and strings that came back to light after a long oblivion (and now published by Roberto Fabbriciani for the editors Suvini Zerboni). Fabbriciani can also be considered the first interpreter ever, given that there is no evidence of performances in the period in which they were composed. The “Suite” and the diptych “Melodia” and “Valse caressante” are in fact works dating back to the composer's first prolific period, remaining until now manuscripts in custody of the Museum of Music in Bologna and the Fondazione Cini in Venice. The Serenade for small orchestra and the suite “Gli Uccelli” complete the production, expanding the vision of Respighi's compositions to the writing in his full maturity.

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Respighi: Works for Flute and Orchestra / Fabbriciani, Paszkowski, Abruzzese Symphony Orchestra
Tactus Apr 2021
CD
$21.99

BRAHMS: SYMS CONCERTOS OVERTURES HAYDN VARIATIONS

WARNER CLASSICS

$21.99 Apr 21, 2023

The music of Brahms held an important place in Sir John Barbirolli's repertoire, and these recordings of the symphonies, made with the Vienna Philharmonic in 1966 and 1967, stand as one of the peaks of his discography. Barbirolli's relationship with this music is rooted in his time as an orchestral cellist, and these performances are notable for their rich, ripe sonorities and expansive warmth. The two mighty Piano Concertos were also recorded in 1967 in distinguished versions with Daniel Barenboim. Playing the violin concerto here, Fritz Kreisler as a young man had been part of Brahms's outer circle in Vienna and drew his approach to this music straight from the source. Last but not least is the Double Concerto, of which Geraint Lewis wrote in Gramophone, "The great underestimated Alfredo Campoli showed what a rich tone and innate musicality he had at his command alongside an equally eloquent Andre Navarra."

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BRAHMS: SYMS CONCERTOS OVERTURES HAYDN VARIATIONS
WARNER CLASSICS Apr 2023
CD
$21.99