The only problem I can see with this enterprising and entertaining CD is that it is somewhat top-heavy. By that I mean the very best music is out of the way once the final chords of the Arriaga Symphony in D sound. And very fine music this symphony, by a musical prodigy who died at 19, is. As the informative notes to this CD point out, the Arriaga is work almost as astounding as Bizet’s remarkably assured symphony written at the same age, 17. But while Bizet’s work is all (or almost all) sunny, youthful charm, there is a pre-Romantic Sturm und Drang to the young Spaniard’s symphony, with a grippingly dramatic first movement in D minor and a restless finale that starts in the same key, though its tragic overtones are softened by a tender Schubertian second melody in D major, from which the triumphant coda is drawn. There is a long, somber introduction, a patrician slow movement with more than a touch of melancholy, and a nominal minuet that recalls a Schubert symphonic scherzo. In all, this is a symphony of emotional maturity and musical craftsmanship unmatched except by Bizet and Mozart, with whom Arriaga is always compared but who didn’t write a comparable symphony until he was an old man of…18 and penned his remarkable Symphony No. 25 in G minor!
Equally remarkable is Arriaga’s Overture Los esclovos felices, written when the composer was all of 13. It’s a very enjoyable work in the Rossinian vein but with the same sort of gentle Schubertian melodies that grace the Symphony.
Both these works have been well served on LP and CD, but these performances by Alvaro Cassuto and the young (founded 2002!) Algarve Orchestra are as fine as any I’ve heard and probably have the best, fully modern sound, which Naxos proudly advertises as the product of 24-bit technology.
The only hitch at all is the discmates for the Arriaga works are not at all in the same league, least impressive of all being the limp Baroque meanderings of Carlos Seixas. Better, but still no great shakes, is the Overture to Carvalho’s “L’amore industrioso,” whose middle section again meanders too much, though the flanking fast sections afford effective curtain-raising gestures in the same vein as an early Mozart opera overture.
Better by far are the Sinfonia by Moreira and the Overture to “Il Duca di Foix” by Portugal. Both these gents have imbibed the Italian opera overture style of Cimarosa, and they produce tuneful, colorfully orchestrated little pieces that I’m sure will prove fun to hear occasionally, especially in such enthusiastic and well-played and -recorded performances as here. But after the youthful genius that Arriaga’s music represents, even they are something of a comedown. My solution? Program your CD player to play Carvahlo’s work first followed by the Moreira and Portugal. Finish up with the Arriaga, and you have a very satisfying program. The Seixas will always be purely optional.
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