Gounod: Symphonies 1 - 3

Caetani, Oleg

CPO 777863

A sensational world-premiere recording: the fragment of a third symphony by Gounod on CD! Oleg Caetani, the conductor of our recording, has the great good fortune of being so closely acquainted with the Gounod family that its members have allowed him to use the manuscript of the third symphony for a recording. And what good luck for us as well! The present CD of course also includes Gounod's more familiar two symphonies, which Caetani describes as follows: »In the first symphony the influence of Haydn, whom Gounod loved very much, is quite apparent, but the character of the music is most deeply French. The minuet in particular reminds us that this dance was born in France, and here Gounod treats it just as nostalgically as Ravel did when he composed his minuet almost a century later. The allegro with which the second symphony begins is quite clearly maintained in Beethoven's manner and reminds us of the corresponding movement in the Eroica. In contrast, the pastoral character of the slow movement is more reminiscent of the delightful side of France – not only of the real landscapes but also even more of the illustrations that one finds in children's books of the nineteenth century. The impatient scherzo with its practically dodecaphonic first unison, just as everything that is yet to come, anticipates the harmonic world of the slow movement (the only one completed) from the third (unfinished) symphony. »In the end these three symphonies profit from the constant contrast between charm and verve, two special French traits that here blend together in a quite theatrical atmosphere.«

CD x 2

CPO

2014-08-18

761203786329