Composer: Franz Schmidt
Orchestra: Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Paavo Järvi
Audio CD
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Size: 1.78 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Symphony No. 1 in E Major
01. I. Sehr langsam – Sehr lebhaft
02. II. Langsam
03. III. Schnell und leicht
04. IV. Lebhaft, doch nicht zu schnell
Symphony No. 2 in E Flat Major
05. I. Lebhaft
06. II. Allegretto con variazioni. Einfach und zart
07. III. Finale. Langsam
08. Notre Dame: Intermezzo
Symphony No. 3 in A Major
09. I. Allegro molto moderato
10. II. Adagio
11. III. Scherzo. Allegro vivace
12. IV. Lento – Allegro vivace
Symphony No. 4 in C Major
13. I. Allegro molto moderato – Passionato
14. II. Adagio – Piu lento – Adagio
15. III. Molto Vivace
16. IV. Tempo primo un poco sostenuto – Passionato – Tempo primo. Allegro molto moderato
At a time when many of his contemporaries were exploring more fluid structures, Franz Schmidt while perhaps stretching tonal harmony to its limits, continued to embrace 19th-century form and achieved a highly personal synthesis of the diverse traditions of the Austro-German symphony. His language, rather than being wedded to a narrative of dissolution and tragedy is radiant and belligerently optimistic and reveals this scion of largely Hungarian forebears as the last great exponent of the style hongrois after Schubert, Liszt and Brahms.
His work having fallen from prominence, Paavo Järvi and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony’s dazzling live performances of all four of his symphonies, and the famous Notre Dame Intermezzo, shine a new light on this fascinating oeuvre and also on an affable and genial soul, and reminds us of the constant need to reappraise and enrich our account of music during the first half of the 20th century.
“A composer of the same lavish style as Mahler, Richard Strauss and Schoenberg, Schmidt fell from prominence having been a composer feted by the Nazis, but his output reminds us of the constant need to reappraise, rewrite and enrich our account of the music of the first half of the 20th century. Paavo Järvi and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony’s dazzling live performances in this album of all four of his symphonies and the famous Notre Dame Intermezzo, shine a light on this fascinating oeuvre.”