Stenhammar: Symphony No. 2 & Ett drömspel

Albumbeschreibung

Swedish composer Wilhelm Stenhammar wrote three symphonies, of which the first was withdrawn from public performance and the third was left incomplete. As a result, the Symphony No. 2 in G minor (1911-1915) stands alone as a fully realized and representative example of Stenhammar's symphonic thinking, showing considerable formal innovation and a rugged personal style, though he seems to have derived much of his inspiration from the Symphony No. 2 in D major of Jean Sibelius. In this performance by Christian Lindberg and the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, the symphony receives a robust performance that doesn't downplay the Sibelius influence, but seems to revel in it, especially in the organic development of long-breathed themes and extended crescendos. The symphony is followed by a concert version of Ett drömspel, the incidental music for August Strindberg's A Dream Play, which Stenhammar composed in 1916. The shifting images and irrational action on stage are reflected in the moody and atmospheric music, which was condensed into a continuous orchestral fantasy by Hilding Rosenberg in 1970. The multichannel recording and hybrid SACD presentation reveal the richness of Stenhammar's scores, and Lindberg draws out important details in the orchestra's sound, which at times is fairly thick and homogenous.

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