Allan Pettersson: Symphonies 5 & 7 cover

Allan Pettersson: Symphonies 5 & 7

Composer
Released

Paralyzed by a debilitating case of rheumatoid arthritis, the Swedish composer Allan Petterson was largely confined to his cramped apartment in a loud industrial neighborhood of Stockholm while writing his Seventh Symphony in 1967. The psychological toll of his surroundings and near-complete isolation courses through the work. A hulking 40-minute monolith, the Symphony is driven by a menacing two-note motif that, like a Rothko color field painting, sluggishly oozes bleak grays and blacks across a colossal orchestral canvas. Christian Lindberg’s 2018 recording with the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, released as part of an ongoing effort to record all of Pettersson’s orchestral works for Bis, reveals unexpected tenderness in the Symphony’s broad brushstrokes, aspiring to what the composer called the ultimate aim of his music: “to rediscover the song once sung by the soul.” 

Zev Kane

Suggestions
Joly Braga Santos: Piano Concerto; Symphonic Overtures Nos. 1 and 2 cover

Joly Braga Santos: Piano Concerto; Symphonic Overtures Nos. 1 and 2

Álvaro Cassuto, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Goran Filipec
Bruckner: Symphony No. 6 cover

Bruckner: Symphony No. 6

Bernard Haitink, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 4 & 5 cover

Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 4 & 5

Yevgeny Sudbin, Osmo Vänskä, Minnesota Orchestra
Schubert: Complete Symphonies cover

Schubert: Complete Symphonies

Herbert Blomstedt, Staatskapelle Dresden
Destination Rachmaninov: Departure - Piano Concertos 2 & 4 cover

Destination Rachmaninov: Departure - Piano Concertos 2 & 4

Daniil Trifonov, Philadelphia Orchestra, Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 7 ‘Leningrad’ cover

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 7 ‘Leningrad’

Vasily Petrenko, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Romeo and Juliet cover

Romeo and Juliet

Matti Raekallio
Brahms: Symphonies Nos. 1-4 (Live) cover

Brahms: Symphonies Nos. 1-4 (Live)

Valery Gergiev, London Symphony Orchestra, Philippe Jordan, Wiener Symphoniker
Handel: Water Music cover

Handel: Water Music

Alexander Gibson
Langgaard, R.: Symphonies Nos. 4, "Lovfald" and 5, "Steppenatur" (2 Versions) cover

Langgaard, R.: Symphonies Nos. 4, "Lovfald" and 5, "Steppenatur" (2 Versions)

Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Thomas Dausgaard