Symphony in D minor

"Although the Symphony in D minor is the main work on Franck by Franck, Finnish conductor Mikko Franck's disc ... it also includes the earliest of the symphonic poems as a substantial fill-up ... It lasts almost half an hour, but although there are some striking ideas and passages of great textural beauty it does seem too long, though perhaps a more urgent performance than Franck's might give it more coherence, for as in the symphony, he tends to opt for refinement over excitement".

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"Most of the discs issued to mark César Franck's bicentenary last year have been reissues, but the selection of orchestral works on Alpha from the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra under Alain Altinoglu makes a belated exception. As well as Franck's Symphony in D Minor, heard much less often nowadays than it once was, and the best known of the symphonic poems, Le Chasseur Maudit, Altinoglu also includes the orchestral interlude that Franck originally intended to separate the two parts of his choral "poème-symphonie" Rédemption. All the performances are sober, well-paced and never overblown, with textures as transparent as the scoring allows them to be".

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"Mr Altinoglu's approach to the Franck symphony is a relatively direct one ... Notwithstanding those timings, this is a performance that does not sound over-hurried as such. Rather, it is generally brisk, tightly constructed and consistently focused ... The performances of those two [other] works are just as well thought-out as that of the symphony and just as impressive in their delivery ... After this auspicious debut release, I will certainly look forward to hearing more from Mr Altinoglu and his Frankfurt orchestra".

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"Vurdering: Editor's choice" - "Excellent new version of the Franck Symphony, the most important orchestral work by the greatest of Belgian composers ... It may come as a surprise to find what a refined body the Liège Orchestra is under Louis Langrée".

"The Symphony gets a fine performance here. Franck understands its logic and tensions, its balance between weight and elegance, its Wagnerian overtones and moments of sensuousness. The orchestral sound is dark yet clear ... Franck balances immediacy with pace and proportion ... The playing has great richness and fervour, with the woodwind and brass particularly fine in both works".

"Marek Janowski, whose credentials in French symphonic music are well established and who here secures readings as vital as they are unaffected ... Sound is well balanced if a little lacking in spaciousness ... For now, Janowski's lucid and idiomatic accounts are self-recommending".

"At 35 minutes, Altinoglu's account [of Franck's Symphony in D minor] is the fastest interpretation of the symphony I've heard ... but the result has a freshness and energy that's compelling ... The album concludes with an urgent and exciting account of Franck's 1882 symphonic poem "Le chasseur maudit". Alpha's finely engineered recording allows Franck's scoring in all three works to be heard with admirable balance and clarity".