Search - Felix Weingartner, Marko Letonja, Basel Symphony Orchestra :: Weingartner: Symphony 2 [Hybrid SACD]

Kudos to CPO for ferreting out Weingartner's music

EKO | 01/25/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Richly romantic work. MUCH more enjoyable than other noted conductor/composers (i.e. Furtwangler, Klemperer). Buy this -- you will be pleasantly surprised."

Weingartner's Best So Far

Kenneth Gilman | Miami Fla | 02/21/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is not just the best of the four Weingartner symphonies so far recorded, it's one of the best symphonies ever written. As one of the great conductors of all time, Weingartner was fully familiar with all the great music of Western civilization. In this symphony he seems to be writing the totality of all the great music that had gone before. I don't mean to say it's derivative, but rather it's the summation of all that's great & beautiful in Wastern music."

OK Symphony

Hegelian | Concord, MA USA | 09/11/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I am surprised at the extravagant praise here on Amazon for Weingartner's Second Symphony: one of the best symphonies of all time, should be in the standard repertoire alonside Dvorak and Tchaikovsky, etc. In truth, this is better than the First Symphony, but it's no masterpiece. Repetition substitutes for development, melodies are unmemorable, and I would characterize the piece as a whole as workman-like rather than inspired. The tone poem (Das Gefilde der Seligen) starts well, but an insipid theme is introduced and mercilessly repeated, guaranteeing that I, anyway, will never listen to it again. That said, it's impossible to imagine these modest pieces presented in better performances or recordings (hence the four stars). If you like earlier installments in this series, get this one; otherwise, try other late romantic composers like Franz Schmidt, Alfven, Reger, the early Wellesz...."