Search - Orchestre National de montpellier :: Henze: Symphony No. 10 / La Selva Incantata / Quattro Poemi

The 10th, another late, great symphony from Henze

R. Hutchinson | a world ruled by fossil fuels and fossil minds | 06/26/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Hans Werner Henze, still writing operas as he turns 84 on July 1st, composed his Symphony No. 10 in the late 1990s as a double commission for Paul Sacher and Simon Rattle. He completed it in 2000, and Rattle and his City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra performed the premiere in August 2002 at the Lucerne Festival. These live recordings are from February (the symphony) and September (the other two pieces) 2004 -- Friedemann Layer leads the Orchestre National de Montpellier. This is a great set of instrumental Henze, released by the French Accord label in 2005.



The Tenth Symphony is very energetic and engaging, with hummable melodic passages. It is a mystery why it has not been reviewed until now. I would characterize it as falling somewhere between Symphony No. 7, which is quite dire, full of violence and tragedy, and Symphony No. 8, based on Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night's Dream," which is much lighter and more cheerful in tone. Approximately 38 minutes long, its structure is the traditional four movements, with the slow movement second and the scherzo third, and each movement has a name: 1) a storm, 2) a hymn, 3) a dance, and 4) a dream. While evocative, it is not clear that it is actually program music. I believe this symphony would be a great introduction for anyone not familiar with Henze's music. While more modern and challenging than the 19th century classics, it follows the traditional form and contains enough drama and beauty for any open-eared lover of symphonies. Henze's late symphonies -- the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th -- are among his finest accomplishments.



The two shorter works are fine as well. The "Quattro poemi" (1955), about 11 minutes long, incorporates quotations from "Konig Hirsch (The Stag King)," Henze's opera, which premiered in 1956. This is a lovely, introspective piece which provides a contrast to the lively symphony. "La Selva incantata: aria and rondo for orchestra" (1991), also 11 minutes long, also draws on "Konig Hirsch." Henze combined music of three scenes from the opera's Act II, an evocation of "the enchanted forest." This is lyrical Italianate music reflecting Henze's long immmersion in "the arioso South," and makes a rousing finish for the album.



It looks like Marek Janowski and the RSB (Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin) are in the process of recording the entire Henze symphony cycle, so we may have a second recording of the 10th soon. in the meantime, this is an excellent recording of an excellent symphony."