Raff, J.: Symphony No. 4 / Overtures To Benedetto Marcello, Dame Kobold, Die Parole / Konzert-Ouverture

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Thankfully, the Fourth Symphony of Joseph Joachim Raff (1822-1882) isn't the only work on this disc. Thus, the listener is spared the certain knowledge that Raff's well-crafted but ultimately meaningless symphony is all there is to hear here. Unfortunately, the remainder of the disc is filled by four overtures by Raff, works equally well-crafted and equally empty. Thus, while Raff's G minor Symphony is full of sound and fury signifying nothing, his four overtures, although just as full of wit and whimsy, similarly signify less than zero. The listener cannot blame Hans Stadlmair and the Bamberg Philharmoniker: their performances are fully competent and wholly professional, and they grant Raff's music everything it deserves and then some. But, with its trite melodies, bland harmonies, and feeble forms, Raff's music deserves little more than a rehearsal run-through before being placed back in the drawer marked "justly forgotten works of the nineteenth century." Tudor's sound is deep, warm, and clean.
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