Nostalgic or Prophetic? Sergei Rachmaninov's Symphony No 2 and 'Vocalise' - heard by LUCAS BALL '... there is a great sense of direction in this recording.'

Listening to this recording may be a nostalgic experience, not because there is anything nostalgic about the repertoire, but because of the orchestra's history. One would be forgiven for having the thought: Remember when there was such an ensemble as Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra? Being part of a trend of German orchestras disappearing since the early part of the 1990s, the ensemble has been noted by The Guardian and Strad magazine for having merged in 2016 with the SWR Baden-Baden and Freiburg Symphony Orchestra.

It is almost as though in writing Symphony No 2 in E minor, Op 27, Rachmaninov was prophesying this decline (or the trend for German orchestras to merge, at least) decades before...

SERGEI RACHMANINOV

RUSSIA

NEVILLE MARRINER

STUTTGART

GERMANY

ORCHESTRAL MUSIC

CAPRICCIO