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Carl DITTERS von DITTERSDORF (1739-99)
Three Descriptive Sinfonias
Sinfonia in a minor, Grave a2, ‘Il delirio delli compositori’ (The Delirium of Composers) [21:32]
Symphony in D, Grave D16, ‘Il combattimento delle passioni umani’ (Battle of Human Passions) [27:47]
Sinfonia in A, Grave A10, ‘Sinfonia nazionale nel gusto di 5 nazioni’ (Sinfonia in the style of 5 Nations) [20:57]
Budapest Failoni Chamber Orchestra/Uwe Grodd
rec. 12-14 December 1996, Calvinist Church, Budapest
Reviewed as downloaded from press access.
NAXOS 8.553975 [70:24]

Recent Naxos recordings of the music of Paul Wranitzky – Volume 1 (review); Volume 2 (my review is pending) and Volume 3 (release imminent as I write) – have reminded me of the great service which the Naxos label did for the friends, contemporaries and predecessors of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven in their earlier days. Not the least of these were the recordings of Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf, including two CDs of his sinfonias based on themes from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, incomplete, alas, with only six of the fifteen actually produced (8.553368 and 8.553369).

Like the present recording of Three Descriptive Sinfonias, the performances of the Ovid-inspired works were recorded by the Failoni Orchestra though with Hanspeter Gmur as conductor, not names which spring to mind as among the world’s top performers, but Naxos always gave these less-known orchestras plenty of time to rehearse, and the results almost invariably repaid the investment.

I’m surprised to see the usually reliable Penguin Guide preferring a 2-CD Chandos selection of these Ovid sinfonias and slightly dismissive of the Naxos. My copies of the CDs not being immediately to hand, I downloaded this recording of three other sinfonias from the same orchestra, having remembered their performances as idiomatic and persuasive. This recording of these oddly named works shows me that I was not mistaken. I described the Ovid performances as stylish but just a shade heavy at times in DL News 2015/4. I wouldn’t even apply that minor reservation to the performances of these Descriptive Symphonies, thanks, perhaps to the change of conductor.

It may not be apparent that the music has a great deal to do with the titles, but it’s all very attractive and workmanlike and, like the Wranitzky, there are times when it could almost be mistaken for Haydn or Mozart. That’s especially true of Wranitzky’s ‘Storm’ Symphony on the second Naxos album of his music, and it’s true, too, of the opening Dittersdorf work here, both influenced by the Sturm und Drang style also to be found in many of Haydn’s symphonies.

You would need to be more attuned to the music of the period fully to recognise the different styles of the Sinfonia in A: German (almost sounding like a Mozart divertimento), Italian (bombastic and repetitive – think of Mozart’s Musical Joke), English (rather square), French, Turkish, all unified in the finale. You don’t need to be a musicologist, however, to enjoy this and the two other sinfonias.

With idiomatic performances which do justice to the music and are unlikely to be bettered any time soon, it’s surprising that Naxos didn’t choose these performers to complete the Ovid set. A later Dittersdorf recording saw them turn to another orchestra, the Lisbon Metropolitan, and Įlvaro Cassutto (review).

The recording is good and the notes are helpful and informative. It’s not too late to make the acquaintance of this attractive recording. Naxos prices have risen quite considerably since it was first released, but it’s still good value on CD (guide price £7.50) or as a download (guide price £5.40 in lossless sound, with pdf booklet).  Then there are three more Dittersdorf siinfonias on a companion album from the same team on 8.553974.

Brian Wilson




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