This attractive album featuring the São Paolo Symphony Orchestra led by
John Neschling includes three of Hindemith's most popular and appealing
orchestral scores, all dating from the mid-'30s. Mathis der Maler, a
1934 symphony made up of three movements the composer incorporated into
his opera of the same name, is a work with a mysteriously effective
consolidation of seemingly disparate elements; it comes across as
austere yet deeply intimate, and radiantly pure yet full of passion and
ardor. Nobility is difficult to define in musical terms, but it's a
quality that can be applied without reservation to Hindemith's majestic,
warmly humane symphony. Nobilissima visione (1938), a suite based on a
ballet about St. Francis, inhabits a similar emotional and musical
world. It's a lovely, often serene piece, but it doesn't rise to the
same transcendent level of inspiration as the earlier work. Symphonic
Metamorphosis uses essentially the same harmonic language as the other
pieces, but to an entirely different effect. Early in his career the
composer was a brash, irreverent iconoclast and he wrote plenty of
surreally humorous music, but by this mature phase in his career he was
known for his sober rationality rather than for wit. Three of the four
movements of Symphonic Metamorphosis, though, burble and erupt with a
sense of extravagant whimsy that seems more characteristic of Prokofiev
at his goofiest than of Hindemith. It's a wild ride, and terrifically
fun. Neschling leads performances of exceptional insight, subtlety, and
attention to detail. He makes the Mathis symphony really glow, and he
revels in the absurdities of Symphonic Metamorphosis. The playing of the
São Paolo Symphony Orchestra is world-class, and its sound is full and
polished. The most notable aspects of the performances are the superb
balance and the nuanced attention to the shadings of dynamics, which
allow orchestral details to shine. Part of the credit for the clarity
and lively sound certainly also goes to the excellent work of the
engineers of BIS' SACD. Stephen Eddins
Paul Hindemith. P (1895-1963)
1-3 Mathis Der Maler, Symphony (1934) (27:16)
4-6 Sinfonietta No. 1, Op. 41 (22:08)
7-10 Symphonic Metamorphosis On Themes Of Carl Maria von Weber (1938) (21:28)
Conductor – John Neschling
Cover – Paul Klee
Orchestra – São Paulo Symphony Orchestra
Violin, Leader – Cláudio Cruz 
