Hindemith: Nobilissima Visione; Mathis der Maler; Metamorphosen (2011)

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 ... Read More

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... Read Less