Reznicek: Symphony No 2 & 5 / Beermann, Et Al
Reznicek's Symphony No. 5, subtitled "Dance Symphony", is a hoot. Its four movements comprise a polonaise, czardas, ländler, and tarantella--but don't think for a minute that they trip along lightly. Like Rachmaninov in his Symphonic Dances, Reznicek evidently had in mind a sort of "dance of death" program (indeed, the piece was choreographed as a ballet). Imagine a huge orchestral fresco on the order of Strauss' Elektra, only without the voices, and you'll get the picture.
The Second Symphony, the "Ironic", couldn't be more different. It's perky jeu d'esprit scored for classical orchestra--light and almost inconsequential, but full of sly humor that may take a couple of hearings in order to come across clearly. In a sense this is musician's music, the sort of thing a very experienced composer would write to amuse himself, and perhaps his colleagues, and it won't be to all tastes, though it's certainly not difficult to listen to. Indeed, the most ironic thing about it, like Mahler's Fourth, which it resembles in some respects, is its false naivety.
The performance of the Fifth Symphony is big, gutsy, and colorful, as the score demands, but the Second's chamber-like textures and reduced orchestration clearly tests the mettle of the Bern Symphony players, principal winds especially. It's one thing to make a big noise, with massed strings, brass, and percussion all blasting away with abandon, and quite another to project a work consisting largely of delicate, solo melodic threads. The players cannot have known this music all that well, and the outer movements of the "Ironic" strike the ear as frankly under-rehearsed--under-tempo and lacking in the requisite sparkle. Absent a score I can't say exactly by how much the performance fails to realize Reznicek's evident intentions, but that at least is how it sounds. So while the Fifth Symphony deserves your attention, the Second requires a bit more indulgence, although I am still happy to recommend this disc as yet further evidence of the composer's talent and undeserved neglect. The engineering is very good too.
--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com
The Second Symphony, the "Ironic", couldn't be more different. It's perky jeu d'esprit scored for classical orchestra--light and almost inconsequential, but full of sly humor that may take a couple of hearings in order to come across clearly. In a sense this is musician's music, the sort of thing a very experienced composer would write to amuse himself, and perhaps his colleagues, and it won't be to all tastes, though it's certainly not difficult to listen to. Indeed, the most ironic thing about it, like Mahler's Fourth, which it resembles in some respects, is its false naivety.
The performance of the Fifth Symphony is big, gutsy, and colorful, as the score demands, but the Second's chamber-like textures and reduced orchestration clearly tests the mettle of the Bern Symphony players, principal winds especially. It's one thing to make a big noise, with massed strings, brass, and percussion all blasting away with abandon, and quite another to project a work consisting largely of delicate, solo melodic threads. The players cannot have known this music all that well, and the outer movements of the "Ironic" strike the ear as frankly under-rehearsed--under-tempo and lacking in the requisite sparkle. Absent a score I can't say exactly by how much the performance fails to realize Reznicek's evident intentions, but that at least is how it sounds. So while the Fifth Symphony deserves your attention, the Second requires a bit more indulgence, although I am still happy to recommend this disc as yet further evidence of the composer's talent and undeserved neglect. The engineering is very good too.
--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com
$18.99
Reznicek: Symphony No 2 & 5 / Beermann, Et Al—
$18.99
Description
Reznicek's Symphony No. 5, subtitled "Dance Symphony", is a hoot. Its four movements comprise a polonaise, czardas, ländler, and tarantella--but don't think for a minute that they trip along lightly. Like Rachmaninov in his Symphonic Dances, Reznicek evidently had in mind a sort of "dance of death" program (indeed, the piece was choreographed as a ballet). Imagine a huge orchestral fresco on the order of Strauss' Elektra, only without the voices, and you'll get the picture.
The Second Symphony, the "Ironic", couldn't be more different. It's perky jeu d'esprit scored for classical orchestra--light and almost inconsequential, but full of sly humor that may take a couple of hearings in order to come across clearly. In a sense this is musician's music, the sort of thing a very experienced composer would write to amuse himself, and perhaps his colleagues, and it won't be to all tastes, though it's certainly not difficult to listen to. Indeed, the most ironic thing about it, like Mahler's Fourth, which it resembles in some respects, is its false naivety.
The performance of the Fifth Symphony is big, gutsy, and colorful, as the score demands, but the Second's chamber-like textures and reduced orchestration clearly tests the mettle of the Bern Symphony players, principal winds especially. It's one thing to make a big noise, with massed strings, brass, and percussion all blasting away with abandon, and quite another to project a work consisting largely of delicate, solo melodic threads. The players cannot have known this music all that well, and the outer movements of the "Ironic" strike the ear as frankly under-rehearsed--under-tempo and lacking in the requisite sparkle. Absent a score I can't say exactly by how much the performance fails to realize Reznicek's evident intentions, but that at least is how it sounds. So while the Fifth Symphony deserves your attention, the Second requires a bit more indulgence, although I am still happy to recommend this disc as yet further evidence of the composer's talent and undeserved neglect. The engineering is very good too.
--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com
The Second Symphony, the "Ironic", couldn't be more different. It's perky jeu d'esprit scored for classical orchestra--light and almost inconsequential, but full of sly humor that may take a couple of hearings in order to come across clearly. In a sense this is musician's music, the sort of thing a very experienced composer would write to amuse himself, and perhaps his colleagues, and it won't be to all tastes, though it's certainly not difficult to listen to. Indeed, the most ironic thing about it, like Mahler's Fourth, which it resembles in some respects, is its false naivety.
The performance of the Fifth Symphony is big, gutsy, and colorful, as the score demands, but the Second's chamber-like textures and reduced orchestration clearly tests the mettle of the Bern Symphony players, principal winds especially. It's one thing to make a big noise, with massed strings, brass, and percussion all blasting away with abandon, and quite another to project a work consisting largely of delicate, solo melodic threads. The players cannot have known this music all that well, and the outer movements of the "Ironic" strike the ear as frankly under-rehearsed--under-tempo and lacking in the requisite sparkle. Absent a score I can't say exactly by how much the performance fails to realize Reznicek's evident intentions, but that at least is how it sounds. So while the Fifth Symphony deserves your attention, the Second requires a bit more indulgence, although I am still happy to recommend this disc as yet further evidence of the composer's talent and undeserved neglect. The engineering is very good too.
--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com
