Karl Weigl Symphony No. 1

[Wieland]

jpc announces the release of a new recording of Karl Weigl's 1st Symphony

https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/sinfonie-1-bilder-und-geschichten/hnum/9018224

[Alan Howe]

Great news! The 55-minute 1st Symphony dates from 1908 - and can be heard here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UaaYYLyaps

The sound's awful; nevertheless...

[eschiss1]

I think we used to have an upload of a recording of this work. Skimmed the large-size first edition Breitkopf & Härtel score (1911- also published as a miniature score; reprinted 2002 by MPH) aways back, too. Good news

btw see KarlWeigl.org...

[eschiss1]

The coupling, Bilder und Geschichten op.2, has been recorded in piano solo form by Joseph Banowetz for Naxos.

[Alan Howe]

If you imagine the spirit of Schubert in early 20th century guise, you'll have some idea of the tenor of this music - especially in the first movement. It really is extremely beautiful, and beautifully done here. However, I must repeat my mantra: we really need a first commercial recording of Wilhelm Berger's 2nd Symphony from artists such as these.

And yes, there are hints of Mahler in Weigl 1; but missing is that sense of irony that informs Mahler's sound-world. Weigl is much more relaxed than that.

[raffite33]

Someone's probably already mentioned it on another Weigl thread, but Capriccio is going to do all six symphonies with Bruns.  The next issue is to be 4 & 6, so those who already have the BIS CD of 6 will have to deal with a little duplication to get Sym 4.

[semloh]

That's excellent news, thanks raffite33. Let's hope the project is completed before too long!

[raffite33]

According to the (somewhat hidden in a not very obvious spot) news section of the Karl Weigl Foundation website, the 4th and 6th were scheduled to be recorded in early May.  The delay between recording and CD release of the first symphony was five months, so I guess it's possible we could see 4 & 6 before Halloween.

The older I get, the less patient I become with cycles that take years to complete, though even worse are the cycles that get abandoned because the conductor moves on to another orchestra, Neemi Jarvi's Raff on Chandos being the best (or should I say worst?) example I can think of.

[brendangcarroll]

Any new recordings of music by this fine, late romantic composer are welcome and Capriccio (which has previously recorded some of his chamber works) is now recording the symphonies.

Here is link to a very interesting promotional video about this project featuring an interview with Weigl's grandson, that may be of interest to many of the members here:

https://youtu.be/nGLd8NKR3PM

[Alan Howe]

Thanks for that link. You'll note that I have merged your new thread with this existing one.

Just a quick reminder, if I may. Please check that a thread has not already been started on a particular topic.

[brendangcarroll]

Thank you. I did check but didn't realise the earlier thread (which had a lnk to JPC.de) referred to this recording. Sorry.

[Alan Howe]

Not to worry. It just makes our job as moderators easier - and it means that we don't get multiple versions of the same topic.