Search - Juan Crisostomo Arriaga, Jan Vaclav Vorisek, Charles Mackerras :: Arriaga: Symphony in D; Vorisek: Symphony in D

Surprising

Wayne A. | Belfast, Northern Ireland | 09/01/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Over the last decade or so we've all been up to our snoots in second, third, fourth, and fifth string composers on CD. In the Classical world it's tough to be complaining about too much of anything and it's probably not justified; we're lucky to have recordings at all in such a minuscule niche market so an overabundance of anything is a blessing. The big problem has been sorting all this stuff out--quality-wise.



Stupidly, I've been avoiding the famed Vorisek symphony for far too long thinking it was going to be a little tired and derivative. It's actually a fairly decent and inspired work with a memorably dramatic opening. It reminds me of early Schubert but better written. It doesn't remind me of early Beethoven though (as some have claimed, and by quite a bit. Vorisek died youngish but he was clearly on his way to a dazzling Louis Spohr kind of existence--very much of his age, extremely competent, but no earth-rattler. I like this symphony a lot and the Arriaga works were an inspired choice for this disc--more early Romantic sound, more vague Schubert-ness. Again, a very striking first movement.



In case no one noticed, Sir Charles Mackerras and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra (or just either one paired with others) have been turning out one first class recording after another. Mackerras is a wonder, a member of that extraordinary modern class of British musician who combines interpretive dazzle with high technical competence and a fairly low publicity-seeking ego profile. One gets tired of seeing young hopped-up kids with crazy hair waving batons around and longs for old not-so-hopped up and mature adults with crazy hair. Sir Charles looks like my dentist and that's even better.



So, if you like the verve of the early Schubert symphonies and you appreciate great conducting and playing this is the disc for you. It wears well and I return to it frequently."