LOUIS SPOHR (1784-1859): Symphonies, Vol. 2 - No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 49, No. 8 in G, Op. 137, Concert Overture in D, Op. 126 "Im ernsten Stil".

Description: Duelling Spohr cycles continue with two symphonies distant in time but both composed for performance in London in 1820 and 1847. Both show a characteristic rich elaboration of a very few motifs - too "non-Classical" for conservative critics and too conservative for progressive critics although No. 2 remained popular in England for decades while on the continent No. 3 knocked it quickly off podiums. The concert overture is from 1842 and equally befuddled critics with its historcizing use of baroque stylistic models but with up-to-date instrumentation and harmonic techniques. North German Radio Philharmonic; Howard Griffiths. SACD hybrid