A Lesser Known Corner Of The Repertoire

A double cd of orchestral music by Enescu seems a bit of an extravagance from a major company ( EMI ) in these difficult times ( for majors ) even if the venture was spread over twelve years ! Disk one contains Symphony no 1 and Symphony No 2 played by the Orchestre Philharmonique De Monte-Carlo conducted by Lawrence Foster while on disk two, Foster conducts the Orchestre National de Lyon in Symphony No 3 and Vox Maris, which is described as a symphonic poem for soprano, tenor, voices and orchestra. The Choeur de Chambre Les Elements under Joel Suhubiette do the honours for the voices alongside soloists Marius Brenciu tenor and Catherine Sydney soprano. I found Vox Maris to be the most compelling work. It was only found and first performed after the composer's death. Based on a Breton poem and with a superficial sea influence but it expands into a much more metaphysical work. I would have to spend a bit more time with the symphonies, they are obviously works from the first half of the 20th century with overtones from Mahler on through such as Strauss, Sibelius etc, expertly scored but they didn't immediately grab me as much as his chamber music. There is also a lack of the Rumanian folk influence that sometimes colours the chamber music. Foster obviously has a strong feel for Enescu's symphonies but they have yet to fully establish themselves in the repertoire.