GEORGE ANTHEIL : Symphony No 3 »American« (Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester Frankfurt · Hugh Wolff) (2004) Two Version | APE + FLAC (image+.tracks+.cue), lossless

Here Hugh Wolff leads the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra in the third volume of a series surveying the orchestral music of George Antheil. It's hard to imagine how Wolff and his crew are going to be able to top this one, as it brings together some of the cream of this repertoire in flawless, sharply etched performances that are big-boned and relentlessly exciting. Antheil's Symphony No. 3 "American" is a great American symphony, easily qualified to take its place of honor alongside the "Third" symphonies of his contemporaries Roy Harris and Aaron Copland. By the end of the 1940s Antheil was the third most frequently performed American composer in concert halls after Copland and Samuel Barber, but this exalted reputation did not survive his early death in 1959. In listening to the "American" Symphony one wonders why not, as it has all of the necessary hallmarks; big city complexity, open prairie landscapes, memorable tunes, and nervous, incessant rhythms derived from jazz. Everyone who loves the "American vernacular" style of the 1940s should hear this work. Antheil's Third was premiered under conductor Hans Kindler in 1945, but this CPO disc represents its first appearance on any kind of issued recording.

Likewise making their bow are two equally solid and enjoyable "vernacular" works, Antheil's delightful Tom Sawyer Overture and the rousing Hot-Time Dance. Both McKonkey's Ferry Overture and Capital of the World have been recorded several times, but they have never sounded better as they do here.

The only complaint here is about the notes by Eckhardt van den Hoogen. They are highly informative, but gossipy, and deal in great detail with aspects of Antheil's life that are not relevant to the music at hand. Perhaps van den Hoogen is afraid CPO will not be taking the series beyond this volume, and is trying to get in all the material he can, but most of it is more appropriate for a full-length biography of the composer and not a set of liner notes. Nonetheless, everything else about this CD is just simply great, and it should be your first choice for the orchestral music of George Antheil. Uncle Dave Lewis  

GEORGE ANTHEIL (1900-1959)
Symphony No 3 »American« (1936-39/rev. 1946)    (25:02)
Tom Sawyer »California Overture« (1949)    5:25
Hot-Time Dance (1948)    4:24
McKonkey's Ferry Overture (1948)    9:03
Capital Of The World - Suite In Three Movements (1953)    (17:08)
Credits :    
Conductor – Hugh Wolff
Orchestra – Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester Frankfurt

GEORGE ANTHEIL : Symphonies 4 & 5 (Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester Frankfurt · Hugh Wolff) (2000) Two Version | APE (image+.tracks+.cue), lossless

"The symphony is probably the most complete musical depiction of an American circus that has ever been written. There is everything in it: the music of a military band, waltzes, sentimental ditties, a Red Army song, eccentric dances - every kind of joke, acrobatic allusions and glamorous monstrosities. It is brilliant, hard, noisy, pretentious, effective and incredibly real. And all its melodies are memorable," said Virgil Thompson after the premiere of George Antheil's Symphony No. 4, subtitled "1942", in February 1944. While this review is certainly enthusiastic, the work is far more impressive and serious than it would have us believe. In reality, it is a symphony that could only have been written in this way during the Second World War and which, in Antheil's own words, expresses his feelings during this war. An equal sibling work to Shostakovich's Seventh and Eighth Symphonies. Antheil's 5th Symphony is the exact opposite, as its title "Joyous" suggests. Playful, sarcastic, full of musical irony: an orchestral bravura stroke without equal. Hugh Wolff delivers brilliant interpretations with his Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra. jpc.de
GEORGE ANTHEIL (1900-1959)
Symphony No 4 »1942« (1942-43)    (33:26)
Symphony No 5 »Joyous« (1947-48)    (22:10)

Conductor – Hugh Wolff
Orchestra – Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester Frankfurt