George Chadwick; Samuel Barber - Symphony No. 3; Excerpts from 'Vanessa' (Neeme Järvi)

Information

Composer: George Chadwick; Samuel Barber

• (01) Chadwick - Symphony No. 3 in F major
• (05) Barber - Excerpts from 'Vanessa'
• (07) Barber - Music for a Scene from Shelley, Op. 7
• (08) Barber - Medea's Meditation and Dance of Vengeance, Op. 23a

Detroit Symphony Orchestra
Neeme Järvi, conductor

Date: 1994
Label: Chandos
https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%209253

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Review

Adventurous collectors may well have already investigated George Whitefield Chadwick's Second Symphony from 1883-6 when it appeared on New World Records in a decent performance by the Albany SO under Julius Hegyi (9/87). If there's nothing in its successor of 1894 to match the captivating melodic charm of that earlier work's scherzo—a movement which ''positively winks at you'', in the words of one contemporary critic—the work still impressed the jury (chaired by one Antonin Dvorak) of the second annual competition organized by the National Conservatory of Music sufficiently to win its composer the first prize of 300 dollars.

Well made and richly orchestrated, here is a thoroughly engaging, warm-hearted symphony, which only occasionally tends to a certain academic drabness (witness the rather dutiful fugal writing in the middle of the slow movement). Though the influence of such European masters as Mendelssohn, Schumann and Brahms is obvious, Chadwick's language also possesses a native, 'folksy' feel in its rhythmic verve and imaginative harmonic resource—I would hazard a guess that readers who have enjoyed, say, Chandos's Stanford cycle should also find Chadwick very much to their liking. Jarvi is, of course, in his element when dusting off precisely such long-neglected corners of the repertoire and both he and his admirable Detroit band make out a superbly eloquent case for this likeable score.

The remaining Barber items also show the Detroit orchestra to be in fine fettle, with rich, pliant strings, beautifully blended, characterful winds and full-throated brass. In the two orchestral excerpts from Vanessa, Jarvi displays an appealing lightness of touch, but the climax of the ''Intermezzo'' lacks something in passion. The sumptuous Music for a scene from Shelley is finely done, though David Zinman (on a stunning all-Barber compilation) achieves perhaps even greater mystery and drama at a marginally more flowing tempo (Barber's marking is Adagio ma non troppo, after all). Jarvi undoubtedly impresses in the thrilling Medea portrait, but the sheer ferocity of the ''Dance of Vengeance'' never quite registers here. For this piece, Munch and the Bostonians remain about the best at the moment, though for my money no one has yet equalled the disturbing malevolence and staggering virtuosity that Thomas Schippers and the New York Philharmonic brought to this score on American Columbia (a reissue soon please, Sony!). Opulent Chandos recording.

-- Andrew Achenbach, Gramophone

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George Whitefield Chadwick (November 13, 1854 – April 4, 1931) was an American composer. Along with John Knowles Paine, Horatio Parker, Amy Beach, Arthur Foote, and Edward MacDowell, he was a representative composer of what is called the Second New England School of American composers of the late 19th century—the generation before Charles Ives. His works included several operas, three symphonies, five string quartets, tone poems, incidental music, songs and choral anthems. Chadwick was one of those responsible for the first significant body of concert music by composers from the United States.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Whitefield_Chadwick

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Samuel Barber (March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American composer of orchestral, opera, choral, and piano music. He is one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century. His Adagio for Strings (1936) has earned a permanent place in the concert repertory of orchestras. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music twice: for his opera Vanessa (1956–57) and for the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1962). Also widely performed is his Knoxville: Summer of 1915 (1947), a setting for soprano and orchestra of a prose text by James Agee. At the time of his death, nearly all of his compositions had been recorded.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Barber

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Neeme Järvi (born June 7, 1937 in Tallinn) is an Estonian conductor. He studied at the Leningrad Conservatory under Yevgeny Mravinsky and Nikolai Rabinovich, among others. Järvi was Principal Conductor and Music Director of the Gothenburg Symphony (1982-2004), Royal Scottish National Orchestra (1984-1988), Detroit Symphony Orchestra (1990-2005) and Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (2012-2015), among others. He made over 400 recordings for labels such as BIS, Chandos and Deutsche Grammophon and best known for his interpretations of Romantic and 20th century classical music.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neeme_J%C3%A4rvi

http://www.neemejarvi.ee/

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