Presto Recording of the Week
9th July 2021

Insula Orchestra, Laurence Equilbey

Farrenc: Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 32
Farrenc: Symphony No. 3 in G minor, Op. 36

Laurence Equilbey, conducting her period-instrument Insula Orchestra, champions the composer Louise Farrenc, a prominent and pioneering figure in 19th century Paris. This album presents two of Farrenc’s three symphonies, No. 1 in C minor, first heard in 1845, and No. 3 in G minor, premiered in 1849. “The score is so well written that it deserves a prominent place in the history of the early Romantic symphony,” wrote the Financial Times after a performance of the Symphony No 3 in London, marking International Women’s Day 2018. “Equilbey and the Insula orchestra gave it a fleet, fiery performance. Their crusading spirit lived up to the day’s billing.” The Daily Telegraph observed that the symphony “was full of engaging inventions … It’s clearly a fine piece; all it needs now is to be heard, many times.”

"It’s a delight to hear woodwind textures used so generously...The Adagio cantabile [of No. 3] – a masterclass in elegant lyricism that is definitely my favourite movement on the album – opens with a beautiful cantilena for clarinet accompanied by rich low woodwind. Lest one think that the wind have all the fun, though, the Scherzo’s rushing semiquavers and trills put the strings through their paces – it’s credit to the players’ agility that the touch remains light, and Equilbey is clearly keen to keep the pace up." - Presto Classical, 9th July 2021.