Théodore Gouvy - Symphony No. 4; Fantaisie Symphonique (Jacques Mercier)

Information

Composer: Théodore Gouvy

• Symphony No. 4 in D minor, Op. 25
• Symphonie brève in G minor, Op. 58
• Fantaisie Symphonique

Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern

Jacques Mercier, conductor

Date: 2013

Label: cpo

https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/cpo/detail/-/art/Louis-Theodore-Gouvy-1819-1898-Symphonien-Vol-4/hnum/4101963

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Review

Symphonies extend Gouvy’s current on-disc reappraisal

As an admitted non-specialist in the works of Louis Théodore Gouvy (1819 98), I am perhaps just the sort of listener for whom this disc is intended. Supported by the Conseil Régional de Lorraine and the Institut Théodore Gouvy, the CD is aimed at reviving interest in the music of Lorraine composers: Gouvy, if spending much of his time in Leipzig, had a home base in the Moselle region at Hombourg-Haut, which describes itself on its website as a ‘veritable melting pot that brewed ideas and passions for culture’.

Through an accident of history (ie the Congress of Vienna), Gouvy was actually born German and did not attain French citizenship until he was in his thirties. To judge from his Fourth Symphony in D minor, premiered in Paris in 1856, Germany was the country from which Gouvy’s musical inspiration chiefly derived. There is a Beethovenian sinew about it, coupled with a lyrical Lieder quality in the Larghetto intermezzo and something of the spirit of Mendelssohn in the finale: there is even a hint of Bottom’s ee awing. Mendelssohnian traits, mixed with textures and orchestral sonorities that come closer to Brahms, infiltrate the Symphonie brève, and there are points of contact with Schumann (though none with Berlioz) in the Fantaisie symphonique. You can understand why Gouvy was such a hit in Leipzig while only gradually making any popular headway in Paris, but there is a good, firm talent at work here and the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie are persuasive advocates of his merits.

-- Geoffrey Norris, Gramophone

More reviews:
https://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev//2013/Oct13/Gouvy_sy4_7773822.html

https://www.amazon.com/Gouvy-Symphony-Symphonie-Fantaisie-Symphonique/dp/B00B0J75E4

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Théodore Gouvy (3 July 1819 – 21 April 1898) was a French/German composer. He studied music mostly in private courses in Paris and Berlin. Drawn toward instrumental music rather than opera, Gouvy chose to live the last third of his life almost entirely in Germany where he felt more appreciated. He wrote twenty-four compositions for full orchestra, including nine symphonies, as well as overtures and variations. Chamber music also comprises a large portion of Gouvy's work, as well as many melodies, lieder and five dramatic cantatas. During his lifetime, his compositions were held in high regard.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Théodore_Gouvy

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Jacques Mercier (born 11 November 1945) is a French conductor. He studied at the Paris Conservatory and won the First Prize for Orchestral Conducting in 1972. From 1982 to 2002, he was artistic directo of the Orchestre national d'Île-de-France. From 1990 to 1995, he was principal conductor of the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, with which he conducted the French premieres of Sibelius' Kullervo and the Lemminkäinen Suite. Mercier took over the direction of the Orchestre national de Lorraine in 2002. He has collaborated with internationally renowned soloists such as Roberto Alagna, Nicholas Angelich and Natalie Dessay.

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Mercier_(chef_d'orchestre)

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