Wdr Sinfonieorchester - Berlin 1923 - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

She was a great musical talent and a sensitive soul, the child of a socially aspiring family who forbid their daughter to marry the love of her life; instead she was forced into a utilitarian marriage with a respectable husband, but later had an affair with her first sweetheart after all - the stuff of a sentimental novel. Yet Mel Bonis (1858-1937) was no fictional character. She was one of the strongest composers of her time with a focus on piano, chamber music and art songs. She also enriched the repertoire of impressionism with numerous original gems and arrangements for orchestra. Her particularly modern Ophelia, her purring melodie of an enamoured tomcat on a roof at night, her Spanish gypsy waltz and her dances for orchestra are just some of the enchanting discoveries you will find here. Our recording pays a well-deserved tribute to this noble woman.

This CD launches a complete series of recordings of Robert Schumann's orchestral works, performed by the WDR Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Heinz Holliger. Holliger's performances draw on a lifetime study of Schumann's music, thought, personality and fate. His approach imparts lightness and lucidity to these opulent scores through a hierarchical balance of parts, delicately gradated dynamics, and invigorating tempos. The widespread image of this romantic composer as a weak orchestrator receives a refreshing and well-grounded correction. Volume 1 of the series presents the First Symphony in B-flat major (Op. 38), Overture, Scherzo and Finale (Op. 52) and the original 1841 version of the Fourth Symphony in D minor (Op. 120). Album Tracks 1. Andante Un Poco Maestoso - Allegro Molto Vivace 2. Larghetto 3. Scherzo. Molto Vivace 4. Allegro Animato E Grazioso 5. Overture 6. Scherzo 7. Finale 8. Andante Con Moto - Allegro Di Molto 9. Romanza. Andante 10. Scherzo. Presto 11. Largo - Finale. Allegro Vivace

Here loving service is done to a composer who is perhaps Sweden's most important symphonist and certainly it's most popular one. This is what FonoForum wrote of Vol. 2 of our edition of symphonic works by Hugo Alfvén, who numbers among the most productive and most versatile Swedish cultural personalities. Alfvén's Symphony No. 2 brought him a success that he termed his definitive artistic breakthrough. A second performance was held during the same year, and it was not long before it was also being presented in foreign countries. This work became his most popular symphony and the first of his compositions to appear in print (1900). At the time national Romantic tones had long dominated music by Swedish composers, while Alfvén adopted a taste that was more Continental - a fact that reviewers registered with astonishment. His Swedish Rhapsody No. 3, a composition featuring impressive work with motifs from Swedish folk music, rounds off this album. Album Tracks 1. Symphony No. 2 Op. 11 in D major~Moderato 2. Symphony No. 2 Op. 11 in D major~Andante 3. Symphony No. 2 Op. 11 in D major~Allegro 4. Symphony No. 2 Op. 11 in D major~Preludio. Adagio 5. Symphony No. 2 Op. 11 in D major~Fuga. Allegro energico 6. Svensk Rhapsodi No. 3 Op. 47~Andante 7. Svensk Rhapsodi No. 3 Op. 47~Allegro violento 8. Svensk Rhapsodi No. 3 Op. 47~Allegro violento - alternative ending