Wagner: 2 Symphonies; Rienzi Overture; Huldigungsmarsch; Kaisermarsch

Royal Scottish National Orchestra/Neeme JärviChandos CHSA 5097 ****

Wagner's Symphony in C is a work that seems full of ghosts. There are echoes of Beethoven and Schubert, although any hints of Schubert must have genuinely come from beyond the grave, as the Schubert symphonies apparently echoed had neither been performed nor published when Wagner wrote his teenage symphony in 1832. The gusto is impressive, and there's even a premonition of the swelling trumpet effect well known from the Rienzi Overture of 1840. Wagner only completed the first movement of the Symphony in E that he began in 1834 and the posthumous orchestration is by Felix Mottl. The two marches show the kind of pomp expected of pieces commissioned for royal occasions. Neeme Järvi conducts them for all they're worth, and gives a rousing account of the youthful symphony. iti.ms/HbkMVT