Symphony No. 2, Op. 23 / Suite No. 2, Op. 21

Album review

A revival of works by neglected Spanish composer Andrés Isasi may seem overdue to some, but it would probably be short-lived and of little significance. His music is highly melodic and competently orchestrated, but it is also painfully trite and derivative of the late Romantic styles he absorbed while studying in Berlin. The Symphony No. 2 in G minor is vaguely Straussian, with crowd-pleasing dollops of Grieg and Humperdinck thrown in for good measure, and the ease with which Isasi tosses off cheerful tunes would be remarkable, were they the slightest bit memorable. But this rambling symphony meanders from one forgettable passage to the next, without a clear sense of structure or trajectory, and resembles a loose tone poem in its episodic construction. The Suite No. 2 in E major is easier to take at face value as light music. Its most interesting movements are the "Burleske," which has a sardonic edge not found elsewhere, and the strange Fugue, which offers a fairly eccentric display of counterpoint. Juan José Mena and the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra give abundant energy and color to these works, but one senses that their lively performances make this music more appealing than it really is. Naxos provides exceptional sound quality.
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