Conductor
Sakari Oramo
seems to be emerging as a champion of composer
Rued Langgaard
, who died all but forgotten in 1952;
Oramo
recorded the
second
and
sixth
of
Langgaard
's 16 symphonies in
2018
and here, turns to the composer's
Symphony No. 1 ("Klippepastoraler," or "Cliffside Pastorals")
in this 2022 live recording.
began writing the symphony in 1908 when he was 14, and it is a gloriously overstuffed youthful work that Danish and Swedish orchestras pronounced unplayable before it was premiered in 1913 by the
Berlin Philharmonic
, the orchestra that performs it here.
was influenced by
Wagner
and more by
Richard Strauss
, whose dense orchestration is much in evidence here. One might cite
Strauss
'
Alpensinfonie
as a model for this work with its pictorial theme and its ringing high percussion parts, were it not for the fact that
's work preceded
' by two years. The symphony does indeed pose challenges for the players, and even at more than a hundred years' distance, it is hard to imagine an orchestra that would do more justice to the over-the-top, bacchanalian finale than the
. Bravo to
for his advocacy of this unique and compelling composer. ~ James Manheim