Einem: Philadelphia Symphony / Geistliche Sonate / Stundenlied

Gottfried von Einem was a student of Boris Blacher and throughout his life saw himself as a composer in the succession of late Romanticism and classical modernism, while resolutely opposing the radical break with tonality in the post-World War II era. His compositions, often reminiscent of the musical style of Gustav Mahler or Franz Schreker, were especially popular in the United States, where the Philadelphia Orchestra, under its legendary exiled Hungarian chief conductor Eugene Ormandy, commissioned the Philadelphia Symphony from the composer. On this new album on the Orfeo label, the symphony is presented by the world-famous Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Franz Welser-Möst, who himself was once chief conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra and thus a successor in office to Ormandy. The rest of the program presents two other works by von Einem, with soloists such as Gabor Boldoczki, Iveta Apkalna and Ildiko Raimondi in the most prominent and high-quality way imaginable.