Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana/Howard ShelleyHyperion CDA 67939 ***

Louis Spohr (1784-1859) never lacked in ambition when it came to programmatic symphonies. The two here deal with The Seasons (No 7) and The earthly and divine in human life (No 9). His music was forward-looking in its chromaticism, but his ideas of form were tied to classical models, creating a predictability of pattern that delighted his conservative contemporaries just as it tends to frustrate modern ears. His obituary in the Musical Times suggested that his creations "will be hailed with enthusiasm as long as music shall have charms to attract mankind", a prediction that was quickly proved false. The neatly conceived performances of Howard Shelley's complete survey allow us to check the basis of the strictures heaped on Spohr by Tovey in his famous volumes of musical analysis. iti.ms/Hf7TXq