Symphony No. 1 / Notre Dame

Franz Schmidt' finely crafted Symphony No. 1, grandiose in scale and optimistic in mood, recalls the masterpieces of other great Romantic composers, Brahms, Bruckner and Reger, and won the Beethoven Prize in 1900. His opera Notre Dame, based on Victor Hugo's novel, was first staged in Vienna in 1914, and won him an international reputation. Under Vassily Sinaisky the Malmö Symphony Orchestra, whose other Naxos recordings have been highly praised, makes a strong case for the revival of Schmidt's strangely neglected, yet sumptuous and deeply satisfying music.