In 2007, the first CD of the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie
under conductor Stanislaw Skrowaczewski was
released. Now, the eagerly awaited first CD under
the ensemble’s new principle conductor Christoph
Poppen follows (the young orchestra unites the RSO
Saarbrücken and the SWR RSO Kaiserslautern).
Three CDs present the five symphonies of the composer
once named by Schumann as “the Mozart of
the 19th century”: Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy.
While Symphony No. 1, which Mendelssohn com-
hristoph oppen
fi rst principle conductor of the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie
posed in 1824 at the age of fifteen, is still firmly in
the Viennese Classic style, Symphony No. 2 (“Hymn of
Praise”) begins where Beethoven’s Ninth left off: texts
from Luther’s translation of the Old Testament are set
to music in a cantata-like manner. In the final movement
of Symphony No. 5 (“Reformation Symphony”),
the Luther chorale A mighty fortress is our God is
heard. The famous Symphonies No. 3 (“Scottish”) and 4
(“Italian”) are full of impressions of foreign lands.