IGNAZ PLEYEL (1757–1831)

Symphonies Concertantes

 

Symphonie Concertante in B flat (Benton 112)*

Symphonie Concertante in A (Benton 114)†

Violin Concerto in D (Benton 103/103A)

 

David Perry (violin), Victoria Chiang (viola)*, Isabella Lippi (violin)†

Baltimore Chamber Orchestra / Markand Thakar

 

Pleyel’s symphonies concertantes are characteristic expressions of his idiosyncratic style. They are expansive, leisurely-paced works, texturally transparent in their solo sections and rich in melodic invention.

 

Always sensitive to instrumental colour, Pleyel uses his unusual forces to weave a scintillating web of sound in these remarkable works. The original and virtually unknown version of the Violin Concerto in D, composed in the early 1780s, is one of the earliest of Pleyel’s solo concertos but no less attractive and assured than its successors.

 

This recording includes the original first and second movements together with a new finale composed by Pleyel several years later.

 

“Symphonies by a largely unknown Haydn pupil who, on this distinctive evidence, deserves far wider currency.” Gramophone on 8554696

 

Naxos 8570320