Composer: Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf
Performer: Michael Tsalka, James Tibbles
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Naxos
Catalogue: 8573740
Release: 2017
Size: 1.06 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
Ajax et Ulysse
01. I. Allegro moderato
02. II. Recitativo andante
03. III. Minuetto
04. IV. Allegro molto – Adagio non troppo
Hercule changé en Dieu
05. I. Allegro e vivace
06. II. Adagio non troppo
07. III. Tempo di Menuetto – Allegro
08. IV. Vivace
Jason, qui emporte la toison d’or
09. I. Largo ma non troppo – Allegro
10. II. Andante
11. III. Minuetto
12. IV. Ciaconna
In 1781 Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf conceived a ground-breaking, multi-media project to compose and have published a series of fifteen symphonies based on Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Each symphony was to be graced by newly commissioned engravings and synopses. In the event, only six symphonies were published (and without engravings) and these are the only works from the set to survive in orchestral form. The works heard here are four-hand arrangements of three of the lost symphonies, possibly Dittersdorf’s attempt to salvage something from the project. These fascinating works juxtapose conventional structures with fluid, unconventional music transforming Ovid’s ‘tableaux’ into dramatic structures teeming with incident and wit.