Album

Luigi Cherubini composed only one symphony, as opposed to numerous operas, masses, motets, and cantatas, and it should come as no surprise to find that the Symphony in D major (1815) is unusual in other ways. Commentators have likened this singular work to symphonies by Mozart, Schubert, and Mendelssohn, yet aside from sharing a common musical language, it has little of their formal discipline and its style seems outside the mainstream of Germanic symphonic writing. In its loose structure, with many dramatic pauses, digressions, and interruptions, and with long-breathed themes that resemble arias, Cherubini's music actually seems much closer to that of Rossini. The operatic impulse is quite apparent in the antic outer movements, the songful Larghetto, and the stormy Menuetto, and this symphony must have struck early audiences as peculiar in its theatricality and something of a novelty. (Presumably, had it been a success, Cherubini would have composed many more symphonies than he did.) This 2007 recording by Piero Bellugi and the Orchestra Sinfonica di Sanremo presents the symphony in a solid reading, along with three overtures from Cherubini's operas Médée (1797), Faniska (1806), and Lodoïska (1791), and their bold operatic characteristics provide a helpful context for the featured work and balance the album rather nicely. Naxos' sound is quite clear and detailed, but somewhat lacking in presence and resonance.

© Blair Sanderson, All Music Guide

CD 1
Luigi Cherubini Composer Symphony in D Work 30:01 Piero Bellugi Conductor, San Remo Symphony Orchestra Orchestra
1	1.Largo. Allegro	13:09			$2.49
2	2.Larghetto cantabile	7:31			$1.49
3	3.Menuetto: Allegro non tanto	4:44			$0.99
4	4.Allegro assai	4:37			$0.99
Luigi Cherubini Composer Médée (Medea; opera)...Act 1 Work Piero Bellugi Conductor, San Remo Symphony Orchestra Orchestra
5	1a.Overture	7:49			$1.49
Luigi Cherubini Composer Faniska (opera in 3 acts) Work Piero Bellugi Conductor, San Remo Symphony Orchestra Orchestra
6	1.Overture	7:39			$1.49
Luigi Cherubini Composer Lodoïska (comédie-héroïque) Work Piero Bellugi Conductor, San Remo Symphony Orchestra Orchestra
7	1.Overture	10:32			$1.99