Rather surprisingly Hugo Wolf's early, unfinished symphony in B-flat major does not appear to have been mentioned here before. In 1988 a recording of the two surviving fragments, Scherzo and Finale, was released on EMI, with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau conducting the RSO Stuttgart. This is out of print but Discogs for example lists several copies, and the two fragments are on Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqdF0mlypsA).
Yes, I must have this somewhere, but it's probably hiding. Thanks for the reminder!
There's also a Hugo Wolf - Penthesilea, Symphonic Poem, Serenade, Scherzo and Finale with Daniel Barenboim Orchestre de Paris on a 1991 Erato CD out there.
I feel like I remember hearing the 1991 CD as a concert on the radio sometime around mid-July 1989 or 1990 or something... probably 1989 if it was the same summer and the same place I remember hearing about Karajan's death also on the radio within a day or so.
The Barenboim CD can still be ordered on amazon.de and the download is still on sale at Presto.
Well,well!
I purchased the Barenboim, and an eclectic mix it turned out to be! I would much prefer to have the acquaintance of Goldmark's Penthesilea than the snarling,raucous ,creature that Wolf portrays.
The standout highlight is the Symphony's Finale. If Magnus M had asked me in 1981 about it (rather than the Eric Fenby question that he actually did), I would have instantly replied " Gordon Jacob" , as it sounds just like a pastiche he would have composed. I wouldn't have guessed Hugo Wolf in a million years. It deserves to be a Proms encore. as it scurries along like a drunken capybara.
Quote from: terry martyn on Tuesday 12 August 2025, 12:40The Barenboim CD can still be ordered on amazon.de and the download is still on sale at Presto.
and for free here :
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_n-Dq7CQE-0Kqs2xx0Sq0jy0EE_64hVj7g