Hoffmeister: Symphonies

Album review

With this 2015 release of two symphonies and an opera overture by Franz Anton Hoffmeister, Howard Griffiths continues his in-depth exploration of late Classical symphonic repertoire with the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana on CPO. Hoffmeister was a music publisher in late 18th century Vienna, as well as a successful composer in his own right, though it's not clear how many symphonies he wrote apart from his last two, the Symphony in C major and the Symphony in D major presented here. These cheerful works and the Overture to Der Königssohn aus Ithaka were written in the Classical style of Franz Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with occasional suggestions that Hoffmeister had also absorbed some of Ludwig van Beethoven's influence. Connoisseurs of obscure Classical works will enjoy these amiable works, but the conventional nature of Hoffmeister's approach to form, development, and orchestration doesn't invite frequent listening. Still, Griffiths and his orchestra have produced a fine addition to the catalog and provided a valuable service to an overlooked composer.
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