Pettersson: Symphonies No. 7 & 16 [Import]

Gustaf Allan Pettersson (Composer), Antal Dorati (Conductor), Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra
• Conductor: Antal Dorati
• Composer: Gustaf Allan Pettersson
• Audio CD (October 10, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Swedish Society
• ASIN: B0000061P5
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #781,161 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The original world-premiere recording of a miraculous work, October 2, 1998

By 

Mark Shanks (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pettersson: Symphonies No. 7 & 16 (Audio CD)

Allan Petterson (1911-1980) wrote 16 symphonies, three concertos for string orchestra, and an oratorio, but remains almost totally unknown to today's concert audience. Pity, because he could be called the last of the Romantics; an inheritor of the mantles of Mahler in his reliance on song and eventual world-weariness, and of Sibelius in his thriftiness of form and totally Nordic sound world.

Certainly the most well-known and most frequently performed of all of his symphonies, Pettersson's Seventh was dedicated to Antal Dorati, whose recording of it brought the world's attention to the reclusive composer. If the Sixth is a dark and desperate cry ending in resignation, the Seventh is the "song sung by the soul" that Pettersson sought so yearningly to reveal.

The symphony's origins are not clear. The work was premiered on October 13, 1968 in a concert for the Music for Youth series founded by Antal Dorati in cooperation with the Stockholm Philharmonic. Pettersson, in very poor health, was called to the podium with standing ovations four times after the work's conclusion. It was the last time he was able to personally attend a premiere of one of his symphonies. Some hear it as a "reconsideration" of the bleakness of the Sixth; others have compared its structure to the arch formed by the profile of a mountain range. Many members of the audience at the premier were in tears at the close of this remarkable work. Once again, Pettersson uses a roughly 40-minute single movement. Unlike earlier symphonies, this one is not as clearly divided into sections, but uses recurring themes throughout.

There are four recordings of the Seventh available. This is the original, the one that secured the composer's reputation worldwide, played by the Stockholm Philharmonic, conducted by Antal Dorati. It was recorded nine months after the premiere, September 18-20, 1969, in the Stockholm Concert Hall, and has been released on numerous LP labels. It is, at 40:00, the shortest recording. It has, of course, the stamp of authentic emotion and commitment, if not the clearest sonics. However, I have found at least one serious shortcoming: at the phrases beginning on page 68 of the score (20:08 on the Dorati CD, and 23:37 on the Albrecht, 22:24 on the Segerstam, and 21:11 on the Comissiona), the trombones are completely silent or absent. The horns are doubled by the cellos and, in a slightly different rhythm, the clarinets and bass clarinet (in the score). I have no information on what happened: the engineer may have goofed, or Dorati may have made a decision to back them off. Imagine listening to this recording for twenty years, and then hear the horns for the first time in a new recording! As an historic document, the recording is invaluable, but newer recordings have supplanted it. At it's length (and with no coupling) and skimpy notes, it isn't a bargain, but it stands as an example of the voice of the individual crying in the wilderness.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The historic FIRST recording of Pettersson's Seventh, June 6, 2000

By 

Mark Shanks (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pettersson: Symphonies No. 7 & 16 (Audio CD)

Allan Petterson (1911-1980) wrote 16 symphonies, three concertos for string orchestra, and an oratorio, but remains almost totally unknown to today's concert audience. Pity, because he could be called the last of the Romantics; an inheritor of the mantles of Mahler in his reliance on song and eventual world-weariness, and of Sibelius in his thriftiness of form and totally Nordic sound world.

Certainly the most well-known and most frequently performed of all of his symphonies, Pettersson's Seventh was dedicated to Antal Dorati, whose recording of it brought the world's attention to the reclusive composer. If the Sixth is a dark and desperate cry ending in resignation, the Seventh is the "song sung by the soul" that Pettersson sought so yearningly to reveal.

The symphony's origins are not clear. The work was premiered on October 13, 1968 in a concert for the Music for Youth series founded by Antal Dorati in cooperation with the Stockholm Philharmonic. Pettersson, in very poor health, was called to the podium with standing ovations four times after the work's conclusion. It was the last time he was able to personally attend a premiere of one of his symphonies. Some hear it as a "reconsideration" of the bleakness of the Sixth; others have compared its structure to the arch formed by the profile of a mountain range. Many members of the audience at the premier were in tears at the close of this remarkable work. Once again, Pettersson uses a roughly 40-minute single movement. Unlike earlier symphonies, this one is not as clearly divided into sections, but uses recurring themes throughout.

There are four recordings of the Seventh available. This is the original, the one that secured the composer's reputation worldwide, played by the Stockholm Philharmonic, conducted by Antal Dorati. It was recorded nine months after the premiere, September 18-20, 1969, in the Stockholm Concert Hall, and has been released on numerous LP labels. It is, at 40:00, the shortest recording. It has, of course, the stamp of authentic emotion and commitment, if not the clearest sonics. However, I have found at least one serious shortcoming: at the phrases beginning on page 68 of the score (20:08 on the Dorati CD, and 23:37 on the Albrecht, 22:24 on the Segerstam, and 21:11 on the Comissiona), the trombones are completely silent or absent. The horns are doubled by the cellos and, in a slightly different rhythm, the clarinets and bass clarinet (in the score). I have no information on what happened: the engineer may have goofed, or Dorati may have made a decision to back them off. Imagine listening to this recording for twenty years, and then hear the horns for the first time in a new recording! As an historic document, the recording is invaluable, but newer recordings have supplanted it.

The 16th, which could really be considered more of a concerto for saxophone and orchestra, is simply a piece that I have not been able to warm up to. Frankly, it just sounds loopy to me, and given the (to my ears) superior performance, sound quality, and coupling of the Segerstam disc (with symphonies 7 and 11), I can recommend this CD to ONLY those who MUST have the original, historic Dorati recording.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nothing is as good as this record, November 21, 1999

By 

Anders Lidholm (Lapland, Sweden) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pettersson: Symphonies No. 7 & 16 (Audio CD)

When I first heard this music in Stockholm conducted by Antal Dorati I almost cried, it is such powerful music. When I then heard this record I almost cried, so happy to be able to restore the feeling.