Symphonies

BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Martyn Brabbins

The BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Martyn Brabbins perform two works from the crucible of the Viennese fin de siècle.

Zemlinsky wrote his two completed symphonies while studying at the Conservatory. He wrote under the watchful eye of its conservative masters, and was greatly influenced by Brahms, but like many of his classmates and contemporaries, Zemlinsky peppered the otherwise bland Conservatory diet with visits to performances of new works by Verdi, Wagner and Richard Strauss. Caught between these two factions, these symphonies show him wrestling, often thrillingly, with the pedagogical parameters imposed upon him.

Zemlinsky:
 Symphony No. 1 in D minor
 Symphony No. 2 in B flat major

"It is not Brabbins’ way to rush these works...Brabbins and Hyperion allow us to hear Zemlinsky as the expansive romantic mid-European young man of the 1890s. The audio quality is very attractive - indeed superior - and the notes by Gavin Plumley cover all the right bases."
MusicWeb International - 20th February 2014

"Brabbins has a strong empathy for Zemlinsky's musical language, demonstrating a masterly control of pacing in each movement...the present release can be confidently recommended for the refined and subtle playing of the BBC NOW and a recording that achieves an ideal balance between textural clarity and Romantic warmth."
BBC Music Magazine - April 2014 ****

"Everywhere one sense a voice leaping to establish its own identity...Those readers wedded to the great Austro-German Romantics are likely to find this coupling irresistable."
Gramophone Magazine - March 2014