Radio 3 Record Review
14th January 2023
Record of the Week

Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Alain Altinoglu

Franck, C: Symphony in D minor
Franck, C: Rédemption ­ Symphonic Interlude
Franck, C: Le Chasseur maudit

This recording marks the beginning of the collaboration between the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra and its new music director, the French conductor Alain Altinoglu, who conducts the leading European and American orchestras and has made a reputation for himself in every repertory – not forgetting opera at Salzburg, Bayreuth, and La Monnaie in Brussels, where he is music director. Their first disc pays tribute to a composer whose bicentenary is celebrated in 2022, César Franck, with the famous Symphony in D minor and two less well-known works, presented in new editions: the symphonic poem Le Chasseur maudit (1882) and the large-scale symphonic interlude from the oratorio Rédemption, composed in 1872 after the Paris Commune, performed here in its first version, long considered lost.

"Beautifully paced not too slow, you feel Franck's' deliciously romantic harmonies unfolding smoothly and seductively. What a fine first recording for conductor Alain Altinoglu and his new orchestra the Frankfurt Radio Symphony and a great souvenir to have as we leave Franck's 200th anniversary year behind us." - Radio 3 Record Review, 14th January 2023

"César Franckin ainokainen sinfonia mainitaan usein esimerkkinä täysromanttisesta johtoaihetekniikasta, jossa kaikissa kolmessa osassa esiintyvä teema takoo koko teoksesta voittoisan tarinan. (...) Tämä on yksi viime vuosikymmenien hienoimpia toteutuksia teoksesta, jossa goottilainen synkeys kohtaa eroottisen huuman." - Antti Häyrynen, Rondo 3/2023.