Reznicek: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4

Beermann, Frank, Robert-Schumann-Philharmonie

CPO 777 637-2

For years now cpo has lent its support to the rediscovery of one of Richard Strauss's most enigmatic contemporaries. Enigmatic, because Emil Nikolaus von Reznicek's music practically defies stylistic classification, showing itself from a new side in almost every composition. Late romantic? Sometimes. Expressionistic? Ditto. Neoclassical? That too. Ironic? Yes, almost always. Irony is perhaps its most essential stylistic trait: an ironic distance from whatever might be the taste of the times. All right, tonality was sacred to Reznicek, but within its limits he allowed himself many a wild and witty liberty. Our new release completing his symphonies with Nos. 3 and 4 once again offers an impressive demonstration of his special method: the Symphony in D major »in the old style« dons a Mendelssohnian mask, while the Symphony in F minor suggests pathos and high drama, though the title of the central slow movement, »Funeral March on the Death of a Comedian, « shows that he was not a composer given to issuing straightforward statements. His (multi)style is distinguished by an »as-if« tone, by various levels of meaning – and this is what makes his music so fascinating!

CD x 1

CPO

8/18/14

761203763726