Suisse Romande Orch:Jarvi - Raff: Orchestral Works Vol. 2

SUPER AUDIO CD IN SURROUND SOUNDThis is the second volume in a series from Neeme J�rvi,/b> and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande dedicated to the orchestral music of the Swiss-born composer Joachim Raff. Although he was a highly popular and prolific composer during his day, his works quickly fell out of the repertoire after his death and are largely forgotten today. The idiomatic performances by Neeme J�rvi and his Swiss orchestra in Volume 1, described as 'peerless' by BBC Music (*****), suggest that they are the perfect performers to reinvigorate interest in Raff's music.This second volume features the rhapsody, Abends, and a number of overtures and preludes alongside Symphony No. 5. Subtitled Lenore, the fifth is one of Raff's so-called programme symphonies, the only one based on a precise extra-musical source: Gottfried August B�rger's poetic ballad of the same name. The shorter works show very different sides of Raff's compositional personality. The grandiose Overture to K�nig Alfred reflects the heroic/romantic nature of the opera's story while the overtures to the comic operas Dame Kobold and Die Eifers�chtigen are full of humour and high spirits. Dornr�schen is an oratorio based on the famous story of Briar Rose, or The Sleeping Beauty, by the brothers Grimm and its prelude has been recorded here.