Kurt Atterberg: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 6

Editorial Reviews
From ClassicsToday.com
Kurt Atterberg's richly romantic, colorful orchestral vistas require excellent recorded sound and a no-holds-barred performance to make their best effect, and both of these symphonies previously have been well served in this regard, the Third by Sixten Ehrling on Caprice, and the Sixth by Jun'Ichi Hirokami on BIS (earlier versions of this latter work by Beecham and Toscanini remain mere historical curiosities). This new recording, though, sets a new sonic and interpretive standard in both works. The Third Symphony, really a sequence of three tone poems, has a thrilling second movement "storm" that sounds just like a film score to some high-octane disaster epic, and Ari Rasilainen plays the living daylights out of it, as he does both symphonies in general. His swift tempos and generous exploitation of dynamic extremes give the Sixth Symphony (sometimes nicknamed the "Dollar" Symphony because it won Atterberg a handsome international competition prize, and thus all that early recorded attention) a sharper profile than in the competing BIS version, with the finale's abortive fugal efforts coming off funnier than ever. The sound on this disc is simply stunning, as spectacular as Atterberg's music. Don't miss it!

Kurt Atterberg: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 6, Music, Kurt Atterberg, Ari Rasilainen, Hannover Radio Symphony Orchestra, Radio-Philharmonie Hannover des NDR, 20th/21st Century Symphony, Classical, Classical Composers, Classical Music, Orchestral & Symphonic, Symphonic

Average customer rating: Highly enjoyable An very Impressive First and the Idiomatic, Engaging Fourth Atterburgs First will not leave my head... Symphony Nr. 4, " sinfonia piccola", andante

Kurt Atterberg: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 4 Manufacturer: Cpo Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Symphonies | Forms & Genres | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music Modern & 20th Century | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music Similar Items: Kurt Atterberg: Symphony No. 9 "Visionaria"; Symphonic Poem "Älven" Symphonies 2 & 5 Kurt Atterberg: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 6 Kurt Atterburg: Symphonies Nos. 7 & 8 Kurt Atterberg: Violin Concerto; Concert Overture ASIN: B00004HYNU Release Date: 2000-02-22

Tracks:

1. Sym No.1 in b, Op.3: Allegro Con Fuoco
2. Sym No.1 in b, Op.3: Adagio
3. Sym No.1 in b, Op.3: Presto
4. Sym No.1 in b, Op.3: Adagio - Allegro Energico
5. Sym No.4 in g, Op.14 'Sinf Piccola': Con Forza
6. Sym No.4 in g, Op.14 'Sinf Piccola': Andante
7. Sym No.4 in g, Op.14 'Sinf Piccola': Scherzo
8. Sym No.4 in g, Op.14 'Sinf Piccola': Finale. Rondo

Customer Reviews:

Highly enjoyable.......2003-10-26

An very Impressive First and the Idiomatic, Engaging Fourth.......2002-03-15

The second movement is particularly spellbinding and poetic (a sure sign of the slow movements of the succeeding symphonies that convey great depth and flair). The beginning is peaceful and solemn. But the following passages become vivid and memorable. Listen to how a particular elegiac passage (@4'05''-ff) is given the more sense of this magical, compelling wroughtfullness by the english horn (cor anglais) admirably supported by the harp arpeggios and viola solo. This is something even Dvorak and Strauss would have appreciate. The mood intensifies into something of a "Hollywoodish" grandeur before the closing of the movement in ways contemplative in feeling. Then turn to the scherzo and you'll find some very adventurous writing, with the ideas again poignant and vivid.

Unlike the finales of the first symphonies of, say Alfven, Rangstrom, or Stenhammar, this finale is nicely held together. I admire the way he starts the first four minutes of the movement (adagio) with the compelling yet restrained expressionism of the second movement. The character is imaginative and noble and while I dreaded for the following allegro energico to be banal and empty,....I was relieved by the fact that the opposite was true. The finale comes short of being episodic even though the development did not go as far as one might have expected. However, Atterberg convinces me of a composer capable of grasping one's attention. Small wonders then that prominent conductors after the 1912 Goteborg premiere promoted this abundantly inventive score, including Leopold Stokowski and Carl Nielsen (who may have thoughts of his own rigorous, highly original first symphony written roughly two decades earlier).

The Fourth Symphony in G minor (1918) is a highly an engaging, resourceful work, with the ideas witty and virtuosic. Listening to the first movement, I sense something of Sibelius and perhaps of Ravel and Poulenc in much of the string writing with the mood Nordic but somewhat impressionistic. The second movement is enchanting, with the muted, highly concentrated strings accompany by the clarinet solo. Then turn to the english horn and flute solos (3'35''-ff) and the mood is even more impressionistic, but something remotely Baxian in temperament that has magic and wonder (and I'm thinking of Bax's "Nympholept" not in terms of the orchestration, but in terms of the melodies that are haunting, a sort of "one who's entering the enchanting woods during the spring, amazed by density of the trees and the streams which began to show life after a long winter"). The scherzo is sort of neoclassical in design; A Sodermanland polka at the beginning followed by the trio using the Vastmanland polka. The finale is likewise engaging and its' melodic profiles are characteristic. It's again very idiomatic and imaginative and the ending has a sort of Nielsenian sarcasm to it that I actually laughed (out of enjoyment, mind you).

The Symphony is altogether a flawless work and my admiration towards it will continue to grow. The First, meanwhile, is a mighty strong, rewardingly inventive score that also deserve live concert performances. Atterberg was among the more successful of Scandinavian composers and with good reasons. Ari Rasilainen and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, judging from their authoritative, enthusiastic performances, concur emphatically.

Atterburgs First will not leave my head..........2001-02-16

Symphony Nr. 4, " sinfonia piccola", andante.......2000-04-14

Average customer rating: A strong series of advocacy for an enticing composer

Kurt Atterberg: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 6 Manufacturer: Cpo Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Symphonies | Forms & Genres | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music Modern & 20th Century | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music Similar Items: Kurt Atterberg: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 4 Kurt Atterburg: Symphonies Nos. 7 & 8 Symphonies 2 & 5 Kurt Atterberg: Symphony No. 9 "Visionaria"; Symphonic Poem "Älven" Kurt Atterberg: Violin Concerto; Concert Overture ASIN: B00004XSN3 Release Date: 2000-09-26

Tracks:

1. Sym No.3 in D, Op.10 'West Coast Pictures': Sun Smoke. Lento
2. Sym No.3 in D, Op.10 'West Coast Pictures': Storm. Con Fuoco
3. Sym No.3 in D, Op.10 'West Coast Pictures': Summer Night. Adagio - Molto Vivace
4. Sym No.6 in C, Op.31: Moderato - Piu Vivo
5. Sym No.6 in C, Op.31: Adagio
6. Sym No.6 in C, Op.31: Vivace

Customer Reviews:

A strong series of advocacy for an enticing composer.......2002-02-10

How to describe Atterberg's music? Like Bax, he never abandon the spirit and the blazing glory of the Romantic Age. Atterberg shares with Bax (and even Tubin, Strauss, and Vaughn-Williams) the ability for imaginative and compelling orchestration, and the ability to evoke the picturesque quality of his music making to high effectiveness. As in Rangstrom, Atterberg's orchestration can occasionally be coarse-grained and overcooked. But rarely does Atterberg cause my attention to shift elsewhere. His works in general, especially the symphonies, evince a strong feeling for form and proportion. They are highly inventive and vital, and Atterberg's constant use of Swedish folkmusic added further dimensions and facets to his music. The rhetoric is sometimes Baxian (like the ending of the Third Symphony), but rewardingly idiomatic and self-assuring.

The Third Symphony "Vastkustbilder" (or West Coast Pictures) is highly imaginative, inventive, and ultimately inspirational. The first movement (Lento) "Sun Smoke" begins solemnly and soon the atmosphere have magic. Atterberg economized used of the orchestra helps to evoke wonder. But, the music does not travel as far as the first movement in Tubin's Second Symphony, where that subdue magic gave way to an explosive climax lending to the second movement. The con fuoco second movement "Storm" is somewhat overscored, but it's very cinematic. But force me to decide what movement is the best and I'll emphatically claim the finale "Summer Night." I admire the orchestration that again evokes wonder. But the buildup into a very inspirational closing, though a bit flawed, is nevertheless genuine and compelling (that even Strauss would have greatly admire): the final three minutes convey ingenuity and depth.

The Sixth Symphony of 1927-1928 is sometimes nicknamed the "Dollar Symphony" due to the $10,000 prize Atterberg won in an international competition sponsored by the Columbia Gramophone Company of New York (he later used it to buy a car). It was during the occasion commemorating the centenary of Schubert's death. The work was adversely affected by a stir created by Olin Downes, an influential American critic who deemed the work as plagiaristic. But the symphony made Atterberg an internationally known figure thanks largely to both the advocacies of Beecham and Toscanini. The symphony possess a genuine sweep (especially in the first movement). But the second movement, in the worlds of Nielsen and Arnold in places, is quite a masterpiece. It have a rather strong nationalistic feeling to it mixed in with subdued eloquence and passion (the beginning with muted strings and clarinet solo is especially enticing). The finale, somewhat a rondo, is robust and conveys an innocent sense of gaiety.

The performance also provided me with reasons not to look the other way (instead I play the CD on four occasions in the past three days). The Finnish conductor, Ari Rasilainen, draws from the Radio Philharmonic Hannover of NDR every ounce of authority, vividness, imagination, and commitment. Rasilainen's choice in tempi, phrasing, and articulation is wholeheartedly ideal. I wonder, though, why a Swedish orchestra is not yet featured in this seemingly ongoing CPO series of Atterburg's works. But, never mind, for now. The German orchestras thus far in this series serve the music well enough and more, as does Rasilainen.

Track Listings:

1. Laurel Zucker -Inflorescence II -Music for Solo flute
2. Lieder of Ludwig van Beethoven
3. MacMillan: Kiss On Wood
4. Maria de Alvear: Libertad (text by Tsolagiu M.A. RuizRazo)
5. Mario Davidovsky: 3 Cycles on Biblical Texts
6. Mefistofele
7. Memories [Import]
8. Mozart: Clarinet Quintet, Horn Quintet, String Quintet
9. Mozart: Music for Piano Four Hands
10. Mozart Piano Concertos K. V. 175, K. V. 503

Track Listings

track listings

Track Listings

Elton John - Greatest Hits [Gold CD]

Hiroko Shiraishi singt Richard Strauss Lieder

It Ain't Easy

Complete Legendary 1938 Carnegie Hall Concert [Box set] [Live] [Import]

Too Loud for the Snowman

Golden Legends

Heads [Import] [Limited Edition]

From Silence To Light

Into the Cauldron

I Remember You

Good News for People Who Love Bad News [DualDisc]

Horsepower Kills [Explicit Lyrics]

Music: 21st Century Ska

Ordinary Day

Goin' Up