"noticeably committed and extremely exciting, with outstanding playing technique."

"Wilhelm Furtwängler said of Günter Raphael (1903-1960) that he was « one of the best talents of the younger German generation, a musician of unusual flexibility of imagination and great real ability. There is no doubt that we have much good to expect from him. As a half-Jew, however, Raphael lost his position at the Leipzig Institute of Church Music during the Nazi era and was banned from his profession in 1929.

Raphael was a versatile composer who wrote numerous symphonic works, oratorios, songs, choral music, organ works and chamber music…  His music is rich.

The first of the five symphonies presented here in world premiere recordings is late romantic. It was composed in 1926 and « is characterized by its melodic richness and expressive depth. Wilhelm Furtwängler conducted the world premiere with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra.

The bold harmonies and rhetorical power of the winds that characterize the first movement are striking. This is followed by a somewhat modern-sounding slow and continuous movement with a rather oppressive mood. A lively scherzo follows, before the finale brings the work to an opulent close with a slow introduction and an allegro section.

Fabian Enders and the Vienna RSO succeed in creating an atmospherically dense interpretation, noticeably committed and extremely exciting, with outstanding playing technique."

Text by Remy Franck

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