Raff, J.: Symphony No. 9

Album review

Acclaimed by his admirers as a peer of Brahms and Wagner, Joseph Joachim Raff was remarkably popular in his time, and his facile and accessible music was played almost everywhere. Soon after his death in 1882, though, his works became quite obscure, and his high status dropped precipitously to a minor position in music history. Yet by the beginning of the twenty first century, Raff was somewhat rehabilitated, and his tuneful and colorful works are once more being played and recorded. Tudor's comprehensive series of the 11 symphonies and other major works evinces the composer's revival, and this CD of the Symphony No. 9 in E minor, "In Summer," and the Symphony No. 11 in A minor, "Winter," provides representative examples of Raff's late development. Formally, these four-movement symphonies imitate Classical models, and their agreeable melodies and easy-to-follow developments are very much in the manner of Mendelssohn, Schumann, and others; yet apart from form, their programmatic basis -- in this case, the depiction of the seasons -- marks them as Romantic tone poems. Hans Stadlmair and the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra offer ingratiating performances of these works, and though the music is not especially inspired or memorable, they play it with a glowing tone and lively rhythms that make these pieces pleasant to hear, if not compelling. Tudor's reproduction is very good, with clean sound and vivid timbres.
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