Oliver Triendl - Thuille: Symphony in F Major & Piano Concerto in D Major (2005)

This first recording of the two major symphonic works of Ludwig Thuille (1861-1907), who died young, was overdue. The longtime friend of Richard Strauss has created two pieces, the Piano Concerto (1882) and the F Major Symphony (1887), which, while not denying their role models (especially Schumann and Brahms), also have promising intrinsic characteristics. Eckhart van den Hoogen quite rightly regrets in his booklet text, which has always been excellently researched and appealingly written, that Thuille has turned to opera and turned away from symphonic works.

It was a good idea to start this production with the grateful piano concerto: the first movement of the symphony is also the weakest, but then it wins through the sensitive Largo and rises in the finale to bohemian exuberance. The Haydn Orchestra is one of those orchestras that are particularly sensitive to the ability of a conductor - mediocre in the mediocre Maestri, but under Alun Francis it is in high form and is committed to the child of his hometown with exemplary commitment ( Thuille was born in Bolzano). Oliver Triendl plays the concert perfectly, tickles differentiated shades, and where necessary, he bravely attacks and delivers a rich, lush sound. The repertoire of late romantic piano concertos of this style is not very big (Brahms, Dvorak, Schumann); the more emphatically Thuille recommended the concert performance.