Antheil: Symphony No. 3 "American" & Other Works for Orchestra

Album review

Here Hugh Wolff leads the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra in the third volume of a series surveying the orchestral music of George Antheil. It's hard to imagine how Wolff and his crew are going to be able to top this one, as it brings together some of the cream of this repertoire in flawless, sharply etched performances that are big-boned and relentlessly exciting. Antheil's Symphony No. 3 "American" is a great American symphony, easily qualified to take its place of honor alongside the "Third" symphonies of his contemporaries Roy Harris and Aaron Copland. By the end of the 1940s Antheil was the third most frequently performed American composer in concert halls after Copland and Samuel Barber, but this exalted reputation did not survive his early death in 1959. In listening to the "American" Symphony one wonders why not, as it has all of the necessary hallmarks; big city complexity, open prairie landscapes, memorable tunes, and nervous, incessant rhythms derived from jazz. Everyone who loves the "American vernacular" style of the 1940s should hear this work. Antheil's Third was premiered under conductor Hans Kindler in 1945, but this CPO disc represents its first appearance on any kind of issued recording. Likewise making their bow are two equally solid and enjoyable "vernacular" works, Antheil's delightful Tom Sawyer Overture and the rousing Hot-Time Dance. Both McKonkey's Ferry Overture and Capital of the World have been recorded several times, but they have never sounded better as they do here. The only complaint here is about the notes by Eckhardt van den Hoogen. They are highly informative, but gossipy, and deal in great detail with aspects of Antheil's life that are not relevant to the music at hand. Perhaps van den Hoogen is afraid CPO will not be taking the series beyond this volume, and is trying to get in all the material he can, but most of it is more appropriate for a full-length biography of the composer and not a set of liner notes. Nonetheless, everything else about this CD is just simply great, and it should be your first choice for the orchestral music of George Antheil.
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