Remarkable unsung late classical symphonies

[Friesner]

Thalbergmad:  I think perhaps I might have done better rewording my "pretty salon" comment so as to convey that there's absolutely nothing 'wrong' without Beethoven's stress, or with music that doesn't necessarily look forward.  I was merely trying to state clearly that, with his symphonies set beside his sonatas, we are really looking at two very different worlds.  The symphonies, while classical in structure, show me clearly that Wölfl is looking at where the symphony is going in the future; his sonatas on the other hand are sitting smack in the center of the tastes of the time and perfectly at home staying there.

But in fairness, I am not a pianist, so have only the listener's perspective.  Perhaps it also matters that the 7-disc set I have - and all that I've ever heard - is played (by Mme. Laure Colladant) on a fortepiano, not a modern instrument; authentic, yes, but also capable of only so much expression.  Maybe on a later instrument different impressions would accrue.  I do have experience with both period and modern performances of the Beethoven, Schubert and Weber bodies of work, and the experiences differ considerably depending on instrument.  (But what does NOT differ between such performances is the sense that those men were moving music forward in exciting and - at the time - surprising ways.  I do not hear this in the Wölfl sonatas, but I do in many places in those two symphonies.)     

[eschiss1]

Had no idea she'd recorded quite that much Woelfl, by the way. I've heard one CD of his piano music by someone else (I think it was), and a couple of other things (maybe a bit of that cpo piano concerto disc too).

[Friesner]

Eschiss - Colladant did indeed get quite carried away with Wölfl, and I see on amazon.co.uk that someone is asking £165 for the set now!  But individual discs were also issued and some of those are affordable.  These don't seem to have been issued in the US, at least I can't find any.  I bought the box a couple of years ago from a seller in France, shipped via a friend in Wales. 

The other single disc you mention might well have been one of three (I think) sonatas on the American label Genesis, originally an LP and reissued as a CD but long gone now.  Pianist was Vladimir Pleshakov.  I had the LP, but at the time wasn't impressed (= sophisticated) enough to care that much, so I never upgraded to the CD.  I do recall that at about the same time Pleshakov recorded LPs of two other obscurities of about the same vintage, Bonifacio Asioli and J.W.Rust; those have been combined now into a single CD (missing a work or two from the originals) and that one can still be had from third-party sellers in the US.  Not worth much trouble in my opinion; the two composers are a nudge better than competent, but that's as far as I'd go. 

There's also a CD of some sonatas played by one Jon Nakamitsu, that's still in print but I've never heard it.  I do know it's modern piano, as was Pleshakov.

[thalbergmad]

Not wishing to assist in the offtopicness (which is punishable by 10 years hard labour), it was the Nakamitsu disk that got me hooked.

Thal

[Mark Thomas]

Just this once, Thal, just this once. 

[eschiss1]

Ah. Looking at the library catalog of the university where I heard it, it was indeed Colladant's CD of the 3 Wölfl Op.28 sonatas that I heard (ADDA 581036, recorded 1987, released 1988; I heard it around 1990, I think, judging from my visual memory of the room), not someone else's disc. (They also have his Op.33 but that CD is from 1995, after I left; also a disc of string quartets, other CDs also, and streamable electronic resources of others besides, also a 1969 LP, and a score of a violin sonata (from?) Op.28 (same work?) and another (divertissement no.2 Op.61)- and only about a dozen in all works of his, but not badly-chosen, it seems...)

[jerfilm]

I'm confused and not at home to compare recordings.  There are lots of recordings of Arriaga Symphony.   Some say in D minor and others say in D major.  Did he write two symphonies or are a number of the CDs mislabeled??

Jerry

[Alan Howe]

The Wikipedia entry on Arriaga tells us:

Arriaga composed a Symphony in D (Sinfonía a gran orquesta), which uses D major and D minor so equally that it is not in either key.

[jerfilm]

Ah so - so, they're both right.  Or perhaps both wrong......

Thank you, sir.....

J

[Pyramus]

I've read on Facebook that the Vorisek symphony is being performed by the Borders Chamber Orchestra in their concert on 2nd November 2024, at Melrose Parish Church at 7 pm. Too far for me but someone who's a bit nearer may be interested.