Forbes Classical CD Of The Week: Zeitgeist And The Symphony -- A Viennese Treasure

Few symphonies begin as entrancingly delicate and yet as immediately enveloping as Franz Schmidt’s Second. Almost like a fireside reverie might sound, if Richard Strauss had written it… except we know how such a Straussian Fireside Reverie actually sounds, because such a symphonic interlude by that name from Richard Strauss’ opera Intermezzo exists and it is very happily coupled on this disc with Schmidt’s Symphony: A happy match then, of a neglected minor piece by a major composer and a major piece by a neglected minor composer. No. Franz Schmidt (1874 – 1939) is not a minor composer, for all the neglect that he has received. He was merely not in tune with the Zeitgeist when he composed his gorgeous music… and not famous enough so as to be immune to not being in tune with the Zeitgeist (see: Strauss, Richard)...

-> Classical CD Of The Week: Zeitgeist And The Symphony -- A Viennese Treasure

F.Schmidt, Symphony No.2 (+ R.Strauss Träumerei am Kamin), Vienna Philharmonic, Semyon Bychkov, Sony Classical