Barber: The School for Scandal Overture / Symphonies 1 & 2

As the most frequently performed piece of American classical music, the Adagio for Strings has placed Samuel Barber among the most famous composers of the 20th century. Born in Pennsylvania in 1910, it was a meeting with Arturo Toscanini, while Barber was composing in Rome, which marked a turning point in his career. His scores encouraged the great Italian conductor to give the first performance of the Essay for Orchestra No.1 and the Adagio for Strings with his NBC Symphony Orchestra in New York. That one event brought Barber international recognition. His subsequent catalogue of works included three operas, two ballets, two symphonies and three concertos. Though he experimented with 20th century techniques, he remained wedded to the melodic style of composition that we find in his easily accessible symphonies.

Editor's Choice - Gramophone Magazine (June 2000)
Gramophone 2000 Award Finalist - Orchestral

Reviews:
"Once again Naxos has begun a project that is both useful and intriguing. This is the first in a series of three discs that will encompass all of Barber's works for orchestra. It is off to a promising start with this attractive coupling of the two symphonies and two of the composer's best-known shorter works...

"The First Symphony is subtitled "in one movement" but falls into four large sections with a scherzo and slow movement in the center. There are some powerful moments in the work, especially at the end of the slow movement, where a huge. C-Major climax dissolves into a tautly constructed passacaglia built on the opening theme of the symphony. The Second Symphony is tonally one of the composer's most adventurous piece, but still the basis language of the work is conservative and easily approachable. The first movement has a strident, dissonant opening but soon settles into a lovely, lyrical second theme. The coda is captivating and leads into beautiful slow movement. Only the finale, which is often noisy and rambling, disappoints - perhaps this is what led Barber to his dismissal of the work.

"These are fine performances. Alsop is especially good in the First Symphony, where her wisely chosen tempos and her restraint in the opening movement allow the music to build in a natural, unforced manner. Her careful articulation of Barber's long melodic lines makes the slow sections in both symphonies quite riveting. The orchestra plays beautifully - the solo oboe in the Andante tranquillo of the First Symphony is wonderful - and the recorded sound is very goods."
- Fanfare (Richard Burke) November/December 2000

"[Alsop] conducts with commitment, flair, and taste, and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra plays well for her."
- Boston Globe (Richard Dyer)

"Samuel Barber (1910-1981) had the good fortune, or maybe misfortune, to write one work - the Adagio for Strings - with which his name is always associated, practically to the exclusion of everything else he composed.

"But this new disc, the first in a series to be devoted to Barber's music, puts the famous Adagio in the much broader context of a composer capable of boldness, drama and vivid orchestral colour. Marin Alsop conducts the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in performances that have both grandeur and zest.

"Barber once said, somewhat self-deprecatingly, 'I write what I feel. I'm not a self-conscious composer. It is said that I have no style at all, but that doesn't matter. I just go on doing, as they say, my thing.' That 'thing' embodies wit in his overture, The School for Scandal, an almost Brahmsian rhetorical strength in the First Symphony, a sense of dark presentiment in the Second, and evocative atmosphere in the First Essay. Barber's harmonic language is in the late-Romantic tradition, but he voices it with tremendous vigour and variety."
- The Daily Telegraph (Geoffrey Norris), June 3, 2000

"Excellent playing and the Naxos price-tag make this foray into Barber's confused world highly recommendable."
- BBC Music Magazine (Christopher Wood), July, 2000

"Sometimes the composer doesn't know best. If Samuel Barber had his way, his Second Symphony would be lost to us, all copies of the score destroyed. Fortunately, this vividly dramatic World War II-era work was rediscovered after Barber's death in 1981, allowing us to savor the melodic invention and rhythmic propulsion of a great American symphony. Its slow movement, an evocation of nocturnal flight, contains some of Barber's most lovely music alongside his popular Adagio for Strings and Violin Concerto. Always a romantic at heart, Barber found little acceptance among the severe avant-garde establishment of the postwar years, but his lyrical inspiration ensured his success with audiences. This exhilarating recording of Barber's two symphonies launches what promises to be a much-needed collection of his complete works for orchestra. Marin Alsop, always a vigorous proponent of her nation's music, is at the helm of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, which captures the American idiom with no difficulties. The concise First Symphony was one of the pieces that launched the young composer's career, its single movement encompassing a scurrying scherzo and a poetic slow section before reaching a powerful, cathartic conclusion. Alongside the symphonies, this volume includes two other early works: the School for Scandal Overture, overflowing with sparkling wit, and the more earnest First Essay, which shows Barber experimenting to create a highly original and personal musical form. With outstanding performances and a budget price tag, this album offers an irresistible opportunity to become better acquainted with one of America's great musical masters."
- Barnes & Noble.com (Scott Paulin), June, 2000