Gounod may be thought
of as something of a one-hit-wonder. For fans of orchestral
music, that hit is Funeral March for a Marionette. For
opera fans, it is Faust; OK, real opera fans
will likely know his other operas as well. But Gounod the symphonist
is likely to be a new experience, as it was for me.
Gounod wrote two
symphonies. However, those expecting French symphonies,
or French-sounding symphonies - whatever that means,
exactly - are likely to be disappointed. His early education
took him to Italy and Germany, and later in life he spent much
of his time in England, so it’s not surprising that he’s not
tied to mid-century France. It may be more surprising that
he is tied to turn-of-century Vienna. His first symphony
sounds very much like late Mozart. It is full of charm and
grace, with particularly attractive woodwind writing. This
mood is only slightly broken by a funeral march at the beginning
of the second movement that only hints at those in Beethoven’s
third and seventh symphonies. Gounod’s second is very much
like the first two symphonies of Beethoven. It begins with
a declamatory theme that sounds heavy with portent, insistently
unfolded through the first movement. The mood of the rest of
the symphony might be described as “gently jaunty,” particularly
the third-movement scherzo.
Patrick Gallois
is best known as a flutist, a role he has recently filled in
a number of recordings for Naxos, such as the complete flute
concerti of C.P.E. Bach. However, life on the podium is
not new to him; he has also conducted early Haydn symphonies,
again on Naxos. Such references point out his sympathy for
the classical idiom, which he brings out to good effect in
Gounod’s works. The Sinfonia Finlandia Jyväskylä do not have
a rich enough sound for (say) Debussy, but in these works they
have admirable rhythmic snap and clarity of texture.
If you are willing
to set aside expectations of the Romanticism of Gounod’s contemporaries
and students, and enjoy his anachronistic late-Classicism,
this is an admirable recording for getting to know these relatively
unknown symphonies.
Brian Burtt
Sinfonia Finlandia Jyväskylä/Patrick
Gallois 
