In the photo on the back of the front cover, German conductor Thomas Dorsch
smiles
cheerfully, and so he might - this recording with the excellent Oldenburg
State
Orchestra of Felix Woyrsch's Second Symphony and Hamlet Overture is not far
off
superb.
The quality begins with the German-English booklet notes which, as is normal
for
CPO - are expansive and informative. Co-written by Dorsch and Andreas
Dreibrodt,
they give a detailed biography of the once much-admired Woyrsch and his
music,
including the two highly impressive works heard here. Not quite as common
for
the label is an excellent rendition of the notes into English - but here,
though
no translator is credited, CPO do themselves more credit.
Dorsch and Dreibrodt's essay astutely recognises the leading role played by
musicologists
and critics in the lack of public interest in composers who were not
"fixated
on compositional innovation", a practice which unfortunately still goes on,
despite
the heroic efforts of labels like CPO, Naxos, Toccata, Chandos and others to
redress
the balance with bold - some would say foolhardy! - recording projects like
this.
In a more enlightened world, Woyrsch's music would be a safe bet. The Second
Symphony
is imaginatively orchestrated, tunefully dramatic, vivid and emotive. At
various
points it recalls Sibelius, Bruckner, Prokofiev, flashes of Brahms and one
or
two other - without ever really sounding like anyone other than Woyrsch. The
audaciously
atmospheric Overture is even better in some regards - the Symphony is four
times
as long and not easily assimilated in one or two listen-throughs.
Despite this potentially wide appeal, this is only the second monograph
of the composer's music, following an MDG recording (3290588) of the
First Symphony, paired likewise with a concert overture, released nearly
twenty years ago - and now deleted! Dorsch and the Oldenburg State Orchestra
have that little bit extra brilliance and imagination, however, and
it can only be hoped that they will eventually - soon, indeed - record
all of Woyrsch's symphonies, including the First.
Recordings of orchestral music on CPO are often less than ideal, with
a sound that tends towards the thin lossy, but here all is well - arguably
one of the label's most impressive symphonic realisations. With luck
they will either always enlist this engineering team, or at least someone
will remember these particular settings!
Byzantion
Collected reviews and contact at artmusicreviews.co.uk
