Hessenberg: Symphony No. 2 (op. 29) & Concerto No. 1 for Orch. (op. 18)

Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra (Performer), Leland Sun (Performer, Conductor), Kurt Hessenberg (Composer, Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Leland Sun
• Orchestra: Kurt Hessenberg
• Conductor: Leland Sun
• Composer: Kurt Hessenberg
• Audio CD (April 1, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 1
• ASIN: B00005JIMG
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #504,872 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Conc. for Orch.: I. Allegro ma non troppo

2. Conc. for Orch.: II. Adagio

3. Conc. for Orch.: III. Allegro moderato

4. Symphony No. 2: I. Poco lento. Allegro...

5. Symphony No. 2: II. Largo

6. Symphony No. 2: III. Allegro impetuoso

7. Symphony No. 2: IV. Poco lento. Allegro...

Editorial Reviews

Paul Snook - Fanfare Magazine, Mar./Apr. 2001

No one interested in the history of 20th-century repertoire can afford to pass up this disc.

Product Description

This is the world premiere recording of two works that were once enthusiastically promoted by some of the greatest conductors of the 20th Century. Wilhelm Furtwängler premiered the Symphony in Dec. 1944, with the intention of performing it “everywhere I have an opportunity of doing so.” Furtwängler conducted the earlier Concerto for Orchestra as well on tour with the Berlin Philharmonic. Other legendary conductors such as Rosbaud, Kabasta, Elmendorff, Weisbach and Konwitschny also took up the Concerto in their repertoire. When Virgil Thomson came upon the Hessenberg Second Symphony in 1946, he proclaimed to the American public that it is “great work and should be heard.” Yet these works have never been performed in the U.S., and the Symphony may not have been heard anywhere since 1947. Although Furtwängler’s premiere performance of the work was recorded for broadcast, the tapes have never surfaced over the decades. So until now, the Symphony lived only in the memories and written accounts of those who were fortunate enough to have heard it over half a century ago. The performances on this recording are conducted by the young Chinese-American conductor Leland Sun, who has honed his skills at the Los Angeles Opera, for whom he recently guest-conducted to critical acclaim the world premiere performances of the chamber opera On Gold Mountain. The experienced Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra plays in their peak form in the Hessenberg works.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well Done!, December 16, 2001

By 

Charles Voogd (Underwaterland) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hessenberg: Symphony No. 2 (op. 29) & Concerto No. 1 for Orch. (op. 18) (Audio CD)

First congratulations Cassandra Records for taking up this music.

Pro: You can get the feel of hearing a newly discovered, long time neglected composer and hope for a revelation.
Con: It is'nt.
Pro: The great Wilhelm Furtwangler liked this music, so it has to be good.
Con: It's good but not outstanding; the reason why he liked it could have been that it resembles his own compositions which are not without their problems too.

These fine works, but surely they are not outstanding, are good examples at how composing was done in the 30s and 40s in Germany.
Hearing this disc for the first time I heard a good craftsman at work. The works are typical for those times, I mean you can hear some Hindemith in it (but without the spicy rhythms) and a longing for times long gone (Brucknerian developments in the finale of the symphony). But at the same time the Symphony can get boring especially in the finale.

The major problem in both works is the lack of well defined melodic material (which can be developed to great heights as in every good work) and which is not compensated with rhytmic vitality (as Hindemith could do) or daring, brutal instrumentation (like Prokofiev could) or some Weltschermz (like Shotakowitch did).

Like the performers all is well done without being exceptional, but I'm very well satisfied with this enterprise by Cassandra Records.