The eclipse of César Franck's Symphony

[Alan Howe]

...and very fine it is too! Thanks.

A bit of digging reveals that van Otterloo's recording was originally released in 1964. It is actually quite a flexible performance, with athleticism followed by passages at a much more relaxed tempo. Willem van Otterloo (1907-1978) is probably now a rather forgotten figure here in the UK, but in the Netherlands and later in Australia he had a distinguished career as a conductor until, sadly, a car accident took him from us.

Once more, however, we are going back a couple of generations to find a top-flight recording of Franck's masterpiece.

[eschiss1]

Some recordings of Otterloo's music are on Donemus' modern Dutch composer series, tangentially- a friend sent me a set of those lps by sea mail awhile ago.

[Alan Howe]

If a copy can be found (or downloaded), I'd say that Riccardo Muti's recording with the Philadelphia Orchestra released in 1983 would make a fine recommendation (fabulous brass playing!) Even that, though, is forty years ago! I remember when a young and thrusting Muti came on the scene in the early 1970s - at 82 he's now an elder statesman!

"There is a lot of music that at one time was very popular and then disappeared," the conductor Riccardo Muti said in an interview. Muti recorded the Franck with the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1981 and was the last person to lead it at Carnegie Hall, with his Chicago Symphony Orchestra, in 2012. "But in the case of this symphony," Muti went on, "I don't understand." I agree with him.

[eschiss1]

Ilja: I assume you're counting the 7 Yamada-conducted performances in Madrid and Chicago as the same performance, with one performance by Mildenberger in Osaka being the other?
(Not counted by Bachtrack this season were performances on October 27 2023 at Baldwin Wallace Conservatory Symphony Orchestra, the Corvallis-OSU Symphony on November 19, 2023 (with works by Mel Bonis and Ravel), the West Australian Symphony Orchestra on 23 and 24 August 2024... among others. It seems from this that the Franck may be alive and well, but being performed by more local orchestras.

"One's reaction to new information often reveals."

[eschiss1]

I would add, in Aachen, 1 and 2 March 2024- conducted by Roberto Paternostro; and the Dresden Philharmonic (talk about obscure!) will be performing the Franck on June 22 2024.

[Alan Howe]

Gratifying news - thanks, Eric. Definitely second-tier ensembles (nothing wrong with that), but at least the Symphony's getting some performances.

[eschiss1]

I prefer to think perhaps the symphony's publicity may be increasing, with performances in more locales than fewer, but I see your point!

[alberto]

Besides Muti other conductors of the first rank  today active have (not recently) recorded the Symphony: Barenboim, Bychkov, Chailly.
Last June I saw and heard in streaming a live performance by Barenboim and the Berliner.
Last year in my city I saw two perfomances conducted by Marc Albrecht and Jan Latham Koenig.
Anyway an amount of decline is undeniable.

[adriano]

Among the various "older" recording of Franck's glorious Symphony I have (and cherish), it is interesting to note that Pierre Monteux, Paul Paray and Lorin Maazel recorded it twice, Maazel even within the stereo aera, the two others first in stereo, then in mono. All splendid and stylistically most respectful performances!
In 1953, the same year as Paray's first recording, Wilhelm Furtwängler recorded the Symphony with the Vienna Philharmonic - another great achievement! But I am also very fond of Karajan's, Jean Fournet's and Jean Martinon's versions! All these documents are an important contribution to my own musical culture.
Of course there are quite a few of other very valuable interpretations on disc. I also admire, for example, Christian Arming's "historical" version, which was issued in a highly interesting César Franck Jubilee box in 2021.
Some time ago, I met with a Swiss music lover (a Wagner fanatic) telling me that he does not like French music and that the French are uncapable of composing Symphonies! He does not even speak French, so he must be a genuine Francophobe (or Frankophobe?).

[jasthill]

Maybe off the subject, .. but part of the problem is I think is the tendency of many modern (resident and guest) conductors to have pre-packaged interpretations of certain repertory pieces that they can "mail-in" whenever the opportunity arises.  A little tweaking here and there I.e. "strings a little dolce in bar 120, .. winds  slur the triplet in bar. 29, etc." rehearsal over, assistant conductor does the run through.  Just get up in front wave the stick, grimace at the appropriate times, bow when done.  No need to delve into compositions that deserve deeper introspection or exposure.  Maybe the audience would enjoy the excursion.  Here locally we seem to be stuck on recurrences of the Schumann 2nd Symphony,  Mozart Overtures, and Bernstein West Side Story Dances.  Sure would like to hear the Frank Symphony again, or even Chausson's Symphony, maybe even some d'Indy.

[semloh]

I think Classic FM and other similar radio stations have a lot to answer for: you don't have to listen for long to realise that certain pieces of music are played to death while others are completely neglected.

This is also the case in Australia, especially at 'peak listening times'. I have noted the same work being played three or four times in a week. One longs for the days of BBC Radio 3, which constantly took listeners into unexplored repertoire, and whose announcers knew their Haydn from their Hayden!

[kolaboy]

When the Franck does turn up on my local station (WDAV, Davidson) it's usually the finale. Can't recall hearing the symphony broadcast in its entirety in quite a while. Same with the Chausson, unfortunately.

[Alan Howe]

The Chausson's never been that well-known, though. And now it's yet another victim of the Bruckner-Mahler craze.

[Ilja]

I think this holds true for French (and to a lesser extent, Russian) music in general. And it's not just Bruckner and Mahler. Over the 20th century it has become usual for the large European orchestras to have a large German/Austrian symphony as the "main course" at most concerts.

As I see it (but others have reflected on this but may not agree) this is the combined effect of the general post-war reduction of the orchestral concert repertoire and snobbery, to which the classical music world has unfortunately never been a stranger. Especially Mahler's quasi-philosophical statements about his symphonies encompassing the entirety of creation seem to have created an atmosphere where only a German symphony contains intellectual and philosophical depth and everything else is "lightweight".

Of course this is an oversimplification, but I have seen the sentiment in action and it works both against anything outside of the iron repertory and most things outside of the Germanic realm. This is why it is so valuable when major orchestras try their hand at things like the Franck or Gounod symponies; the change must come from them if it is to come from anyone. Unfortunately, it's not easy; in a recent discussion I had with a member of a major orchestra, the mere suggestion that they were to play more than the merest token of non-Germanic fare was met with derision.

[semloh]

The Symphony in D minor is neatly analysed, and its disappearance from concert halls noted, in the UK's Guardian newspaper back in 2014.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/tomserviceblog/2014/apr/29/symphony-guide-francks-d-minor

Yes, it was once standard fare on BBC Radio 3, and in live concerts, but I never warmed to it myself, and haven't listened to my CD (RPO/Leppard) for years; time for another try, with rather older ears. Ditto the Chausson.