Search - Raff, Herrmann, Lpo :: Raff: Symphony No. 5

A masterpiece!!!

Robert Thomas | Los Angeles, CA | 05/21/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A masterpiece of this quality cannot remain hidden forever. It therefore gives me great pleasure to see that the great Raff revival is currently underway. Upon the first hearing, it doesn't take long before the average human ear recognizes this as one of the supreme examples of symphonic writing in the 19th century.

The reasons for Raffs plunge into obscurity is a fascinating and curious one.

One reason being that he refused to side with either of the 2 prevailing musical cliques of the day, the Schumann/Brahms camp on one hand, and Wagner/Liszt on the other. Unfortunately, this won him no favor amonst fellow musicians, and consequently upon his death there was noone waiting to champion his work, thus assuring his rapid slide into oblivion.

Depressing? You bet.

Fortunately, we have a conductor named Bernard Herrmann to thank for heralding the great Raff revival which seems to be gaining momentum.

Speaking of Herrmann, I must say that his orchestral spin on this piece is impeccable. VERY exciting use of tympani in the first movement that is lacking in other versions. My only small complaint comes in the hushed final minutes of the last movement, where you'll hear a squeaky, out of tune woodwind note which sort of ruins the moment for me. Other than that, everything comes up roses.

I wholeheartedly recommend that you get your hands on this sometimes hard-to-locate recording.

If you are out of luck, try the Matthias Bamert recording. It's a close second.

Enjoy."