The Complete Orchestral Works Vol. 1

Abstract

At first blush it seems odd that the complete orchestral works of Muzio Clementi would fit on just three discs. But that's the case. Although the prolific Italian lived 80 years, he was in his lifetime, and has remained ever since, best known as a pianist-composer with dozens of piano sonatas plus the monumental technique builder Gradus ad Parnassum to his credit. Also, some of the few symphonies he wrote are lost and likely to remain so. But, small though it may be, Clementi's orchestral works are very worth exploring for fans of the classical era. Clementi wrote in roughly the same style and language as Mozart, Haydn, and the young Beethoven. Perhaps only his Symphony No. 3, nicknamed "The Great National" because it quotes the British national anthem, and his Symphony No. 4 belong in that exalted league in terms of quality. But compared with symphonies by composers like Rosetti, Gossec, or Dittersdorf, even Clementi's earlier symphonies are as interesting and often more formally and melodically appealing.

These 1992 recordings with Francesco d'Avalos leading the Philharmonia are easily the best choice available in the repertory. (There isn't much competition: Claudio Scimone and the Philharmonia recorded only the four mature symphonies in 1978, Matthias Bamert and the London Mozart Players recorded only the two early symphonies plus the first of the mature symphonies in 1993, and the late Richard Kapp and the Philharmonia Virtuosi recorded only "The Great National" coupled with works by Haydn on an undated disc called Trafalgar.) D'Avalos clearly feels he has something to prove here, and he and the London orchestra deliver highly polished, deeply sympathetic performances that make the most persuasive case for the music imaginable. The disc is taken from warmly colorful but slightly distant ASV originals.