Enna Symphony No.2 from cpo

[Alan Howe]

The Symphony No.2 in E of 1908 by August Enna (1859-1939) is due out from cpo next month...

http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/cpo/detail/-/art/August-Enna-Symphonie-Nr-2-E-Dur/hnum/5817051

[Mark Thomas]

jpc sent me a "Happy Birthday" voucher a few months back (how did they know?) which today made a small dent in the cost of buying the Enna, together with three other recent cpo CDs which I'd failed to spot earlier: Kalliwoda's Symphonies Nos.2 & 4, vol.2 of Weingartner's String Quartets and piano music by Marxsen.

[Alan Howe]

Enna's Symphony No.2 in E of 1908 turns out to be a richly enjoyable and superbly orchestrated 34-minute late-Romantic work (with plenty of Wagner thrown in) well worth anybody's attention. Not a masterpiece, I think, but well worth reviving. Another lovely release from cpo.

[Mark Thomas]

All three works on this CD are really enjoyable. The Symphony is as colourful and melodic a piece of early late romanticism (if you see what I mean) as you're going to find, but for me it's just outshone by the four movement Fairy Tale of about the same length - a sort of fin de siecle Danish Sheherazade. The Hans Christian Anderson Overture is cut from the same cloth as these bigger pieces and is surprisingly muscular, too.

Much as I enjoyed each of the the works on the CD, I did find the whole programme a bit wearing on the ear. Enna's orchestral writing is pretty "full on" and 70 minutes of it is just a bit too much. Listen to each in isolation and you'll get much more from them.

[eschiss1]

Makes sense. Classical Era concerts could be quite long (but this isn't Classical Era, either...) and I incline to doubt that the composer really was thinking of having those works performed all in a row like that. Still, considering some of the programs of turn-of-the-20th century concerts I recall seeing too, maybe I'm wrong. (Though cuts were more certainly tolerated then, and the "mechanics" of concert vs. recording ... ok, ok, hush Eric!!!)

[albion]

This disc has just got a very positive reaction from Rob Barnett at musicweb (http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2011/Mar11/enna2_7770352.htm). As far as I can, I'm making the most of the Presto offer on CPO at the moment (25% off until 23rd March) and have just ordered the Klughardt Symphony and Violin Concerto, Pfitzner Orchestral Songs and the Goetz set of 3 cds.

It looks as though the Enna will have to follow shortly as well - "full-on" orchestral ear-stretchers (not necessarily brain-stretchers) are right up my street! 

P.S. 'Symphonic Pictures' or 'Symphony in disguise'? 

[Jonathan]

Well, my copy arrived yesterday but I've been stupidly busy so will have a listen in the car and report back!