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Cherubini: Requiem Mass No. 2, Symphony in D major No. 6, Mé
Supraphon Oct 1999
CD
$15.99

STANFORD: Symphonies, Vol. 3 (Nos. 3 and 6)
Naxos May 2008
CD
$19.99

Brahms: Symphony No. 3, Alto Rhapsody & 6 Schubert Songs / Dausgaard, Larsson, Reuter, Swedish Chamber Orchestra

BIS

SACD

$21.99 Sep 07, 2018

Thomas Dausgaard, the enormously talented conductor, continues here with his quest for recording the mainstream symphonic repertoire with an orchestra, smaller than the usual today. His journey has become a considerable success. What one possibly misses in string sound "thickness" is more than well compensated for by the added transparency, and the almost chamber-music-type listening by the orchestral members. As a matter of fact, Dausgaard's and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra's togetherness, ensemble playing is totally amazing and gives this listener a completely different view of these Brahmsian masterpieces. Add Anna Larsson – Abbado's favourite alto – Johan Reuter, and the Swedish Radio Choir, and what you get is a very, very strong team indeed. Renowned for his creativity and innovation in programming, the excitement of his live performances and an extensive catalogue of critically-acclaimed recordings, Thomas Dausgaard has been the chief conductor of the Swedish Chamber Orchestra since 1997, and in 2016 took up the same position with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. He is also set to become the music director of the Seattle Symphony in 2019.

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Brahms: Symphony No. 3, Alto Rhapsody & 6 Schubert Songs / Dausgaard, Larsson, Reuter, Swedish Chamber Orchestra
BIS Sep 2018
SACD
$21.99

Langgaard: Symphonies 4, 5 & 6 / Järvi, Danish Nrso
Chandos Jun 1992
CD
$21.99

Zappa: Six Symphonies

Urania Records

$22.99 Jul 12, 2024

In 1984 Frank Zappa released an album titled Francesco Zappa, unknowingly becoming the first contemporary interpreter of the work of this unknown Milanese author, and effectively marking the beginning of his rediscovery. It was an incredible fate that of Francesco Zappa who, after a long life of success and honors in the Dutch and German courts, died in poverty and even experienced a kind of "damnatio memoriae" due to the contempt shown to him by Leopold Mozart.

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Zappa: Six Symphonies
Urania Records Jul 2024
CD
$22.99

Lepo Sumera: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 6

Ondine

$18.99 May 02, 2025

Lepo Sumera (1950-2000) was one of the most important figures in Estonian music after WW2. Sumera can also be considered among the most important European symphonists of his era: between 1981 and 2000 the composer wrote an impressive series of 6 Symphonies. These dramatic and emotionally-packed works of great beauty and contrasts were greatly admired, among others, by John Adams. This new album by the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra and conductor Olari Elts is first instalment in a new fascinating symphony cycle.

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Lepo Sumera: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 6
Ondine May 2025
CD
$18.99

Schubert: The Symphonies / Dausgaard, Swedish Chamber Orchestra

BIS

SACD

$44.99 Aug 05, 2022

It was only after his death that Franz Schubert’s symphonic works made an impact in music history. In fact, the first public performance of any of Schubert’s symphonies took place at a memorial concert held a few weeks after the composer had passed away, on 19th November 1828. The work that was heard at that occasion was Symphony No.6, D589, the ‘Little C major’, while the two undisputed master works of the series – the ‘Great C major’ and the ‘Unfinished’ – had to wait until 1838 and 1865, respectively, before being performed. The six symphonies that precede them in the list of completed works were all composed between 1813 and 1818, while Schubert was still only 21 years of age. In a style above all oriented on Haydn and Mozart, they are youthful in the best sense of the word and display a disarming freshness which the present performances convey to perfection.

The four discs gathered here were released singly between 2010 and 2014, receiving critical acclaim in the international music press: the reviewer in The Daily Telegraph (UK) described the experience as ‘having a layer of varnish removed from a much-loved painting’ while his colleague in Fanfare wrote that the approach by Thomas Dausgaard and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra ‘changes the landscape’, proposing that the cycle ‘could become a first choice among any available.’ The set also include some shorter orchestral works, among them the much-loved Rosamunde Overture.

Excerpts from reviews of previously released volumes included in this set:

Schubert: Symphonies Nos. 8 & 9 / Dausgaard, Swedish Chamber Orchestra

Dausgaard somehow manages to approach the surviving two movements of Schubert's B minor Symphony as though we didn't all know that it remained 'unfinished. For once it was hard not to regret the absence of an energetic scherzo or finale.

-- BBC Music Magazine

Schubert: Symphony No. 6 / Dausgaard, Swedish Chamber Orchestra

Dausgaard dexterously manages the internal balance within the orchestra. His pacing of the opening Adagio instills confidence, the line shaped by phrases stretched and contracted, dynamics thoughtfully graded, the interpretation of the whole work thoughtfully considered.

-- Gramophone

Schubert: Symphonies Nos. 3, 4 & 5 / Dausgaard, Swedish Chamber Orchestra

Even if not in his mature style, and showing the influence of Rossini, as well as of Haydn and Mozart, they are pure Schubert, not least in harmony and scoring, and they stand up well to the high-powered approach of Dausgaard and the splendid Swedish Chamber Orchestra.

-- The Sunday Times (UK)

Schubert: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2 / Dausgaard, Swedish Chamber Orchestra

The definition and dynamism that these forces have been bringing to their Schubert symphony cycle are qualities that are radiantly replicated in the performances here.

-- Gramophone

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Schubert: The Symphonies / Dausgaard, Swedish Chamber Orchestra
BIS Aug 2022
SACD
$44.99

Haydn: 6 Paris Symphonies / Sanderling, Berlin Symphony Orchestra
RCA Apr 2011
CD
$24.99

The Bruckner Symphonies, Vol. 6 / Albrecht

Oehms Classics

$9.99 ~~$19.99~~ Save 50% Mar 17, 2023

This series marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Anton Bruckner, which falls in 2024. It’s dedicated to Bruckner’s symphonies, most of them recorded in new transcriptions for organ by Hansjörg Albrecht. The 7th recording was made on the church organ of Hofkirche in Luzern with the transcription of Bruckner’s 6th Symphony by Eberhard Klotz. The bonus track on this volume is the composition “Andrea Lorenzo Scartazzini” for organ by the Italian composer Andrea Lorenzo Scartazzini.

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The Bruckner Symphonies, Vol. 6 / Albrecht
Oehms Classics Mar 2023
CD
~~$19.99~~ $9.99

Weinberg: Violin Concertino Op. 42; Symphony No. 10; Rhapsody on Moldavian Themes

CPO

$18.99 Oct 09, 2015

Gradually and fortunately, for some years now the extensive and highly significant oeuvre of the Polish-Russian composer Mieczyslaw Weinberg has also been discovered and recognized in the West – a process also documented on our internationally highly regarded cpo recordings. During the 1960s Weinberg’s reputation was not only restored but also soared on high – at least in the Soviet Union. Interpreters of the rank of Rostropovich, Gilels, Kondrashin, Leonid Kogan, and the Borodin Quartet joined David Oistrach in his enthusiastic propagation of Weinberg’s music. The Symphony No. 10 is the most stylistically advanced and experimental composition among his purely instrumental works. In conjunction with her research on Dmitri Shostakovich’s life, the Polish violinist and composer Evelina Novicka’s attention was also drawn to the composer Weinberg. Impressed by his compositions, she has recorded several premieres of his works, including the Concertino op. 42 and Rhapsody op. 47 heard on this most recent CD. She herself has arranged the lost version of the Rhapsody on Moldavian Themes for violin and orchestra. - cpo (Translated from German text.)

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Weinberg: Violin Concertino Op. 42; Symphony No. 10; Rhapsody on Moldavian Themes
CPO Oct 2015
CD
$18.99

Symphony IX - Sketches of the Finale

Gramola Records

$24.99 Jul 17, 2026

As the highlight of the Bruckner Year 2024, Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 9 was performed by the Altomonte Orchestra St. Florian under Rémy Ballot on the occasion of the Brucknertage St. Florian. The special feature of this evening was the presentation of the recovered sketches from the Finale, which were played in their rough-draft form and without special arrangement. Work on the Finale was already far advanced at the time of Bruckner's death on October 11, 1886; among the fragments are, among other things, the beginning of the movement, the first, second and third main themes, parts of a development section, and the aforementioned three themes in the recapitulation-partly as a short-score sketch, partly as completely orchestrated passages. Performing these fragments allows one only to imagine what monument Anton Bruckner would have erected once again with the Finale of his Ninth Symphony. This memorable evening can now be experienced by the music world.

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Symphony IX - Sketches of the Finale
Gramola Records Jul 2026
CD
$24.99

Mix & Match

Silvestrov: Symphony No 5, Postludium / Robertson, Lubimov

Sony Masterworks

$17.99 Aug 06, 2007

Silvestrov’s Fifth Symphony might well have emerged from Prospero’s island. The music epitomises something rich and strange. Ominous, heavy with threat (trs. 3, 5), dissonant but accessible, dreamy and romantic. Ham-fisted and insensitive but useful parallels include Mahler’s Adagietto, Berg, Griffes’ Pleasure Dome, the film scores of John Barry and the Hollywood 1970s and further enlivened by idyllic evocations of birdsong. A massive orchestra is used and there is an orchestral piano presumably played by Lubimov who is at the centre of things in the similarly ecstatic Postludium. At one point there is a low-key chatter of voices – but very low. This is voluptuously expressive music given spine by the undertow of gloom. I do not know why it has not made more headway. If there were any justice this would have been played at the BBC Proms but the same could be said of a host of other regrettably neglected works including Hovhaness’s Majnun and Etchmiadzin symphonies, of the Benjamin Dale tone poem The Flowing Tide, of Ronald Stevenson’s concertos, the oratorios and symphony of Yuri Shaporin and the piano concertos of Nikolai Kapustin.

This Sony-Arkiv re-animation scores over the competition in various areas. Its sound is rich – bathed in warmth yet not smearing detail. Students of the work will find that the version under review is in nine tracks which certainly aids the process of getting to grips with a single span of three quarters of an hour. Even timid souls – and I count myself in their company – should make a point of hearing the remarkable Fifth Symphony. It is as much an ikon of the second half of the twentieth century as Gorecki’s Symphony No. 3 and the various mystic-religious works of Macmillan and Tavener. The difference is that the Silvestrov is sensuous to the point of saturation rather than devout to the point of asceticism.

-- Rob Barnett, MusicWeb International

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Silvestrov: Symphony No 5, Postludium / Robertson, Lubimov
Sony Masterworks Aug 2007
CD
$17.99

Schmidt: Symphony No. 4; The Book with Seven Seals

SOMM Recordings

$32.99 Apr 19, 2024

Franz Schmidt 150 (1874-1939)

SOMM Recordings honors Franz Schmidt, one of the great symphonic composers of the 20th century, on the 150th anniversary of his birth with this double-disc set featuring two of his masterworks. Revered in his day in his native Austria as the nation’s leading composer and an elite teacher, cellist, and pianist, his name will not be known to many. This is due, at least in part, to a perceived association with the Third Reich (against which there is ample evidence). This first release on CD of two premiere recordings, meticulously produced and restored by Lani Spahr, showcases Schmidt’s unique harmonic language, exceptional contrapuntal skill, and mastery of form, qualities which prompted Hans Pfitzner to call Schmidt’s Symphony No. 4 “nearer perfection than Bruckner, more honest than Richard Strauss and more original than Reger”.

Born in Pressburg (Bratislava) in 1874, Schmidt’s teachers (piano) included his mother (herself a student of Liszt), Rudolf Mader, Ludwig Burger and Theodor Leschetizky; (cello) Karl Udel and Ferdinand Hellmesberger; and (theory) Felicián Moczik and Robert Fuchs. He was, for a time, principal cellist in the Vienna Philharmonic under Mahler. While his symphonic output is clearly in the structural mold of Schubert, Brahms, and Bruckner, his harmonic language, while showing influences of Strauss, Mahler, and early Schoenberg, is clearly his own.

A near fatal heart attack in the years following the success of his Fourth Symphony prompted the composer to put his efforts into a major religious work. His setting of eight chapters of the last book of the New Testament in Martin Luther’s German became The Book with Seven Seals (From the Revelation of St. John the Divine), not through-composed but constructed of clearly defined sections in the great 19th-century oratorio tradition.

The success of this summum opus and his stature in Austria drew the attention of the Nazis, who commissioned Schmidt to write a cantata on partisan texts (which he abandoned, only for it to be completed by a student and nevertheless performed under Schmidt’s name). With the fading of this unfortunate association a growing number of prominent conductors (the Järvis, Welser-Möst, Luisi, Bychkov) have begun to revive performances of his music in our time. Lani Spahr’s previous SOMM releases include the lauded four-volume sets Vaughan Williams Live (ARIADNE 5016, 5018-20) and Elgar Remastered (SOMMCD 261-4), as well as Elgar from America, Volume 3 (Ariadne 5015-2), which garnered a Gramophone Editor’s Choice for “superb audio restorations [bringing] performances fully to life”.

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Schmidt: Symphony No. 4; The Book with Seven Seals
SOMM Recordings Apr 2024
CD
$32.99

Ferenc Farkas: Orchestral Music, Vol. 6

Toccata

$20.99 Jul 04, 2025

Ferenc Farkas (1905-2000) is often viewed as a gifted miniaturist, sifting through Baroque and popular Hungarian sources to produce glittering orchestral dances of infectious energy. That Farkas does indeed exist, as in the suite from the ballet The Sly Students, but this album also shows an entirely different side to his musical personality. His Preludio e Fuga finds him experimenting with dodecaphony - but he offered a caution: 'In the twelve-tone theme of the fugue, I did not use Schoenberg's orthodox model but a softer form, more euphoric, with a rounder and more attractive sonority - I am thinking of works by Luigi Dallapiccola or [...] Frank Martin'. His only symphony was a victim of Communist orthodoxy, so severely criticised at Party meetings that Farkas shelved the score. This first complete recording reveals a work that is both big-boned and big-hearted - one of the finest of all Hungarian symphonies.

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Ferenc Farkas: Orchestral Music, Vol. 6
Toccata Jul 2025
CD
$20.99

Shostakovich, D.: Festive Overture / Symphony No. 5
Signum Classics Jan 2008
CD
$19.99

Shostakovich: Suite On Finnish Themes / Symphony For Strings
BIS Jan 2002
CD
$21.99

Beethoven: Symphony No 7, Coriolan, Prometheus / Previn
RCA Nov 2008
CD
$17.99

Brahms: Symphonies 1 & 4 / Jansons, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra

BR Klassik

$29.99 Jun 26, 2012

Impressive Brahmsians.

This disc follows close on the heels of these artists’ recording of the Symphonies Nos. 2 and 3 on BR Klassik (SACD) 900111. Both Symphonies were recorded in the splendid acoustic of the Herkulessaal and audience applause has been retained at the conclusion of each symphony. In May 2011 I experienced at first hand just how empathetic the relationship is between Jansons and the Bavarian RSO. I eagerly await the opportunity to attend one of their Munich concerts.

Brahms was aware that by writing symphonies he was encroaching on the territory ruled by Beethoven. In fact Brahms had written to Hermann Levi that he could feel the presence of Beethoven marching behind him. Many Brahms supporters, notably Eduard Hanslick, were happy to acknowledge the close relationship of the First Symphony to the music of Beethoven. Hans von Bülow went further, referring to the C minor symphony as “Beethoven’s tenth”. Brahms was 43 and at the height of his maturity when his Symphony No. 1 was completed in 1876 although the gestation period had been protracted, making sketches for the score, it seems, over twenty years earlier.

The grave and leaden thuds of the threatening drums that open the first movement Un poco sostenuto - Allegro are implacably convincing. Impressive too is the beautiful oboe playing of the rising motif at 2:16. Throughout this movement an assured Jansons successfully provides generous quantities of beauty, sadness and even menace. Compared to many rivals it took me a while to get used to his rather measured pace. One senses that he is rather holding back his forces. Although Rattle comes close with the BPO in truth no one I have heard on record has managed to provide an opening of such raw power. It approaches that of Klemperer and the Philharmonia. There is a burnished autumnal countryside feel to the E major Andante sostenuto. One could imagine walking at the edge of an eerily tranquil and shadowy forest whilst anticipating the ominous onset of severe weather. In the midst of such glorious playing I was struck how much the rising melody for solo violin at 6:05 reminded me of a section in Brahms’ Violin Concerto. Warm and magnificently lyrical melodies abound in the short Un poco allegretto e grazioso right from the swaying opening measures. Its manner is reminiscent of Mendelssohn. This is fresh music of the great outdoors and is evocative of cool early morning dew over a backdrop of wonderful Alpine scenery. Jansons conveys a sense of intense activity in the closing Adagio - Allegro non troppo ma con brio as if lying on a verdant grassy bank gazing up at the tones and shapes of a swiftly changing sky. I loved the inspiring and highly memorable chorale melody. The writing really evokes the finale to Beethoven's ‘Choral’ Symphony.

It was in 1884 and 1885 that Brahms worked on his Symphony No. 4 at the Austrian summer resort of Mürzzuschlag in the Styrian Alps. Hans von Bülow, who had conducted a rehearsal of the score enthused that the symphony was “stupendous, quite original, individual, and rock-like. Incomparable strength from start to finish.” It’s esteem has endured and remains for many Brahms’s most popular symphony. Walter Niemann found an intense degree of sadness in the fourth movement and wanted to describe the score as Brahms’s ‘Elegiac’ symphony.

A comforting mood of warm serenity and joy suffuses the swaying opening Allegro non troppo. In splendid performances such as this I am reminded of the verse, “perfectly cultivated earth. Honey of dawn, sun in bloom” from the poem Glimmer by Paul Éluard (1895-1952). Commencing with a striking horn-call in Jansons’s hands the E major Andante moderato feels like a dreamscape attaining beguiling heights of fantasy and grandeur. I love the good humour and vigour of the Scherzo as Jansons takes the music forward with majestic strides. In the dark key of E minor the final movement marked Allegro energico e passionato is a heroic drama constructed out of a theme and variations in the form of a chaconne often described as a passacaglia. Here Brahms introduces contrasts of the broadest imagination including chorale-style variations featuring horns and trombones. I especially enjoyed the lovely and moving passage for solo flute at 3:05-3:56 as well as the following woodwind interplay and the fierce and defiant hammer-blows.

Jansons and the Bavarian RSO provide highly accomplished performances even if they are unable to match the pervasive aura of heart-searching and the strong sense of excitement provided by Klemperer/Philharmonia and Rattle/BPO. The warm and well balanced sound quality from live concerts at the Herkulessaal, Munich is impressive.

It has been a ‘rite of passage’ for conductors to record a complete cycle of the Brahms symphonies and I have several splendid sets in my collection. My benchmark is the set of evergreen performances from Otto Klemperer and the Philharmonia. These are aristocratic, powerful and expressive. They were recorded with the great producer Walter Legge at his favoured venue: London’s Kingsway Hall in 1956/57 and can be heard on EMI Classics 5 62742 2 (c/w ‘Haydn’ Variations; Alto Rhapsody with Christa Ludwig, mezzo-; Academic Festival and Tragic Overtures). The digitally re-mastered sound is quite superb. With impeccable credentials Klemperer is a marvellous and experienced Brahmsian who made a studio recording of the Brahms First Symphony with the Staatskapelle Berlin as early as 1928. I often play the sterling performances of the Symphonies 1-3 conducted by Eugen Jochum with the London Philharmonic Orchestra from the Kingsway Hall, London in 1956 on EMI Classics 5 69515 2. Re-mastered at the Abbey Road studios, for its age, Jochum’s sound is excellent too. For an accompanying single version of the fourth symphony I would add Carlos Kleiber’s commanding 1980 Musikverein, Vienna reading with the Vienna Philharmonic digitally recorded on Deutsche Grammophon 457 706-2. Of the modern digital sets I greatly admire the 2008 accounts from the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle on EMI Classics 2672542. They were recorded live in the Philharmonie at single concert performances with some additional patching. In my review I described them as, “urgently spontaneous performances conveying a Romantic power of immense intensity.”

Jansons and his Bavarian Radio colleagues are impressive Brahmsians. Any serious collector should be happy to hold this set of Brahms’ symphonies.

-- Michael Cookson, MusicWeb International

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Brahms: Symphonies 1 & 4 / Jansons, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
BR Klassik Jun 2012
CD
$29.99

SYMPHONY NO.3, METAPHYSICA HARP CONCERTO

DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON

$17.49 Aug 07, 2026

SYMPHONY NO.3, METAPHYSICA HARP CONCERTO Internationally acclaimed Japanese composer and conductor Joe Hisaishi leads the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, with celebrated harpist Emmanuel Ceysson, in a major world premiere recording that pairs his Symphony No. 3 'Metaphysica' with his new harp concerto - a virtuosic, genre-defying work.

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SYMPHONY NO.3, METAPHYSICA HARP CONCERTO
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON Aug 2026
CD
$17.49

Mix & Match

Beethoven Symphonies, Vol. 6

SOMM Recordings

$18.99 Feb 21, 2025

SOMM Recordings brings it's major six-volume series of Franz Xaver Scharwenka's transcriptions of Beethoven Symphonies to a close with his 9th Symphony, the monumental Choral Symphony. Since the first volume, listeners have eagerly awaited each new release in the series from duo pianists, Tessa Uys and Ben Schoeman. As Ates Orga has noted in International Piano Magazine, "What in July 2021 began as something of a curio outing has blossomed into a major recording landmark." Beethoven first conceived the idea of setting Schiller's Ode to Joy to music when he was in his twenties; an early iteration of the theme in the song, Returned Love, comes from before 1795. His Choral Fantasy for piano, vocal soloists, mixed chorus, and orchestra followed in 1808, when he was thirty-eight. By the time he conducted his Choral Symphony No. 9 in D minor in Vienna on May 7, 1824, aged fifty-four, Beethoven was completely deaf. One of the iconic images in music history is that of the soprano gently turning him around, so he could see the rapturous response from the audience that he was unable to hear. The work had broken all barriers in terms of conception, duration, compositional power, and the incorporation of voices in the finale. The impact of the Choral Symphony was instantaneous and lasting. It was printed by Schott and Company within 18 months, and there were immediate demands for keyboard transcriptions. Given the forces that Beethoven employed in his 9th Symphony, transcribing the work for piano is challenging to say the least. The German pianist and composer, Xaver Scharwenka, was a student of Theodor Kullak, who had studied with Beethoven's pupil, Carl Czerny, thus providing Scharwenka with a singular musical line leading back to Beethoven. His duet transcriptions of all nine Beethoven Symphonies, published in 1905, still remain a touchstone for musical understanding of the cycle. The Tessa Uys and Ben Schoeman Piano Duo began their in-concert exploration of Scharwenka's four-hand Beethoven transcriptions in 2015. Their recording of these transcriptions for SOMM began in 2023 with volumes 1 to 5 receiving ecstatic reviews. Vol I (SOMMCD 0637) "Utterly beguiling, " BBC Music magazine. Vol 2 (SOMMCD 0650) "The performances are state-of-the-art, " BBC Music magazine. Vol 3 (SOMMCD 0666) "Clarity, conviction and impressive unanimity, " Gramophone; "CD of the Week, " Sunday Times. Vol 4 (SOMMCD 0677) "so musical... so Beethovenian as to defy criticism, " Musical Opinion. Vol 5 (SOMMCD 0687) "remarkable ensemble synchronicity, " Jed Distler, Gramophone. Tessa Uys and Ben Schoeman have long-established careers. Uys has been awarded the MacFarren Medal by the Royal Academy of Music, where she is an Associate, and she has an impressive reputation as a concert and broadcasting performer at major venues throughout the world. Schoeman is a Steinway artist who has performed in prestigious concert halls on several continents. Both pianists are past winners of the Royal Over-Seas League Annual Music Competition.

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Beethoven Symphonies, Vol. 6
SOMM Recordings Feb 2025
CD
$18.99

TISHCHENKO: SYMPHONY NO. 7
NORTHERN FLOWERS Sep 2016
CD
$16.36

SYMPHONY NO.2
HYPERION Oct 2017
CD
$18.49

Human Misery, Human Love - Beethoven: Symphony No 9 / Nagano, Montreal Symphony

Sony Masterworks

$11.98 Apr 10, 2012

BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9 • Kent Nagano, cond; Yann Martel (narr); Erin Wall (sop); Mihoko Fujimura (mez); Simon O’Neill (ten); Mikhail Petrenko (bs); Tafelmusik CCh; Montreal SO & Ch • SONY 88691919442 (66:56) Live: Montreal 9/2011

This is the fourth installment in the Beethoven symphony cycle currently in progress from Kent Nagano and the Montreal Symphony. What distinguishes this cycle from others is the attempt to place Beethoven’s music in a broader context. In the present case, the disc is titled Human Misery—Human Love , and the performance includes a short text by writer Yann Martel, spoken by the author in English (before the performance of the symphony) and in French (afterward).

In Fanfare 32:6, I reviewed an earlier installment, Ideals of the French Revolution , which included a text by Paul Griffiths read to music by Beethoven, and performances of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and incidental music for Egmont . While I found the performances of Beethoven worthy, the Griffiths pastiche was more problematic and ultimately unsatisfactory.

After an 11-second burst from the opening of the finale of the symphony, Martel’s narrative titled Where Have You Gone, My Revolutionary Friend? is heard, apparently recorded in a studio. The friend referred to is a sort of Everyman, who has gone astray after such promising beginnings. The question, I suppose, echoes the revolutionary nature of Beethoven’s music, but I’m skeptical of the relevance of this short poetic envoi to either Schiller or the symphony (but then I’m not an admirer of Martel’s work). The narrative is brief; alternatively, the track is easily skipped.

Luckily, the performance of the symphony itself is a strong one. The first movement opens with edgy strings using little vibrato; the audio production offers admirable clarity and sonic punch within a spacious acoustic, a tribute to the new venue (the Maison Symphonique de Montréal) that was inaugurated with this performance. Urgency is communicated through a moderately brisk tempo, which is sustained throughout the movement; the contrasting lyrical theme is poignantly hopeful. The same sense of urgency carries over into the Scherzo, with its infectious rhythms and buoyant enthusiasm (and its repeats intact). The timpani are impressively thunderous but never overly prominent. The Trio ripples along fluently, a lighthearted little melody amid the bustle of the Scherzo.

The initial ( adagio ) tempo of the third movement is not slow, but the feeling of calm and hope that suffuses it is amply transmitted. The pure string tone helps to reinforce the lack of overly emphatic or indulgent emotionalism, and the simple declaration of faith at the end provides an effective coda. The opening of the finale is more diffuse energy than startling interruption, though the cellos and basses are stern enough in their didactic recitation. Bass Mikhail Petrenko has the lighter timbre of a baritone, and sings with lyric sensitivity, accompanied by the nimble orchestra. The vocal quartet blends well and is situated in front of the choruses, bringing a coherence and balance to the sung text (aided by the relatively modest-sized choral contingent). The sprightly alla Marcia allows tenor Simon O’Neill to hold forth with jaunty panache (an echo of his Wagner roles). “Seid umschlungen, Millionen!” is properly devotional, while the double fugue is more maestoso than energico , but is effective nonetheless. The presto is exciting, and the purely instrumental coda is prestissimo indeed.

I can understand the thinking behind the decision to provide an extramusical context for Nagano’s performances of the symphonies: There are so many choices in the Beethoven symphony discography that any innovation might just elicit interest in this particular cycle. I hope, though, that if these symphony recordings are collected into a set, the extraneous and unnecessary distractions will be discarded so that the symphonies (and various companion pieces) can be left to themselves.

FANFARE: Christopher Abbot

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Human Misery, Human Love - Beethoven: Symphony No 9 / Nagano, Montreal Symphony
Sony Masterworks Apr 2012
CD
$11.98

VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: SYMPHONY NO.5

HYPERION

$18.49 Oct 30, 2020

Vaughan Williams's incidental music for The Pilgrim's Progress has seldom been heard in it's original guise since the 1906 premiere. Martyn Brabbins and the BBC Symphony Orchestra couple it with outstanding interpretation of the composer's Symphony No 5.

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VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: SYMPHONY NO.5
HYPERION Oct 2020
CD
$18.49

SYMPHONY NO.5 - ROMEO & JULIET

SFS MEDIA

SACD

$21.99 May 12, 2015

Discover powerful and moving music by Tchaikovsky in this all-new release from Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony. With the heroic Symphony No. 5 and the passionate Romeo and Juliet, featuring one of the best-known love themes ever written, this thrilling, live recording is the perfect addition to any music collection.

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SYMPHONY NO.5 - ROMEO & JULIET
SFS MEDIA May 2015
SACD
$21.99