Franz Schmidt - Symphony No. 1; Excerpts from Notre Dame (Vassily Sinaisky)

Information

Composer: Franz Schmidt

• (01) Symphony No. 1 in E major
• (05) Notre Dame – Opera, Op. 2 (Orchestral excerpts, Act 1)

Malmö Symphony Orchestra
Vassily Sinaisky, conductor

Date: 2009
Label: Naxos
https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.570828

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Review

A fine new recording of Schmidt’s neglected symphonic first venture

Despite some celebrated past recordings, including Mehta’s of the Fourth Symphony (nla) with the Vienna Philharmonic (in which Schmidt played cello for many years) and Neeme Järvi’s exhilarating cycle (Chandos), Franz Schmidt’s symphonies have never quite made it into the musical premier league. It is not through lack of championship (most recently by Fabio Luisi on Querstand) nor the quality of the works themselves, which is of the highest order.

The quality of Schmidt’s music is demonstrated here by the least of his four symphonies, the prize-winning First (1899). Its four expansive movements play for some 45 minutes, the essential qualities of Schmidt’s style evident in every bar: attractive melodies in appealing late-Romantic (but not overdone) harmonies with plentiful contrapuntal interest. If not possessing its successors’ structural subtleties, the First is a well made and more satisfying whole than many better-known works. True, there are traces of Brahms, Bruckner and Wagner (and even foreshadowings of Elgarian nobilmente in the finale), but Schmidt’s own voice shines through.

So it does in the splendid extracts from the first act of his opera Notre Dame (1902-04), of which the Intermezzo (billed on the back cover bizarrely as “Interlude”) shows the lyrical Hungarian side of Schmidt’s musical personality to radiant effect. Sinaisky directs searching accounts of the works here and the Malmö players relish the task of tackling repertoire put on the map by the erstwhile director of their Gothenburg rivals along the Swedish coast. Järvi’s Detroit accounts remain the strongest (Chandos’s sound suited the idiom better) but for those unfamiliar with Schmidt this newcomer makes a fine introduction.

-- Guy Rickards, Gramophone

More reviews:
ClassicsToday  ARTISTIC QUALITY: 9 / SOUND QUALITY: 9
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2009/May09/Schmidt_8570828.htm
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2009/June09/Schmidt1_8570828.htm
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/apr/03/franz-schmidt-symphony-no-1
https://www.allmusic.com/album/franz-schmidt-symphony-no-1-notre-dame-mw0001872187
https://www.audaud.com/franz-schmidt-symphony-no-1-in-e-major-orchestral-excerpts-from-notre-dame-op-2-malmo-symphony-orchestra-vassily-sinaisky-naxos/
https://www.naxos.com/reviews/reviewslist.asp?catalogueid=8.570828&languageid=EN
https://www.amazon.com/Schmidt-Symphony-No-Notre-Dame/dp/B001QUL72I

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Franz Schmidt (22 December 1874 – 11 February 1939) was an Austrian composer, cellist and pianist. He studied at the Vienna Conservatory with Robert Fuchs, Ferdinand Hellmesberger and Anton Bruckner. As a composer, Schmidt was slow to develop, but his reputation, at least in Austria, saw a steady growth from the late 1890s until his death in 1939. In his music, Schmidt continued to develop the Viennese classic-romantic traditions he inherited from Schubert, Brahms and his own master, Bruckner. As a teacher, Schmidt trained numerous musicians, conductors and composers who later achieved fame.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Schmidt

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Vassily Sinaisky (born April 20, 1947 in Abez, Komi Republic) is a Russian conductor and pianist. He studied conducting with Ilya Musin at the Leningrad Conservatory and began his career as assistant to Kirill Kondrashin at the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1973, he won the Gold Medal at the Karajan Competition in Berlin. Sinaisky lead the Latvian National Symphony (1976-1989), the Moscow Philharmonic (1991-1996) and the Malmö Symphony (2007-2011). He was Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic (1996-2012) and made several recordings with them for Chandos.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vassily_Sinaisky

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