Gounod – Symphonies 1-3
Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana; Oleg Caetani
CPO 777 863-2
Glancing at the title there are a number of personal discoveries here, including Gounod as a symphonist, the orchestra and the conductor and even the recording company. An interesting fellow, that Gounod… He sprang into world fame in one fell swoop with one opera, Faust, so successful that it has held the stage for the past 150-odd years and made him very rich, but he never could write another comparable opera ever again. However, as a young man and prior to his fame, he did dabble in orchestral composition with two symphonies plus an incomplete third, the latter newly discovered in a historic first performance here. Needless to say all were duly forgotten and completely overshadowed by Faust.
Fine works these are indeed in the hands of the extremely capable Italian conductor and Karajan Competition-winner Oleg Caetani who studied under the legendary Franco Ferrara (much admired in my teenage years when I saw him and he pretty well made me discover Schubert!). Much like the First of Beethoven, also inspired by Haydn, Gounod’s Symphony in D Major is a real charmer with finely sprung rhythms, unmistakeably French in character and conducted with a light spirit making the music sing and dance joyfully with the trumpets ringing out triumphantly at the end.
The more ambitious and mature Second Symphony in E-Flat Major already foreshadows the wonderful garden love scene in Faust. It is so lovingly performed with shimmering colours that it alone would make this disc worthwhile.
