PAUL DESSAU (1894-1979): Sinfonie in einem Satz, Symphony No. 2, In memoriam Bertold Brecht, Les Voix for Soprano, Piano and Orchestra, Examen et poème de Verlaine for Soprano, Contralto and Orchestra, Danse et Chanson for Voice and Ensemble.

Description: Generally dismissed in the West because he was a cultural hero in East Germany, Dessau needs to be better appreciated and this offering will certainly help. The rarest pieces are recently discovered vocal works from the late 1930s (two quite short and the 11-minute, dodecaphonic Verlaine setting Les Voix of 1939) but collectors will naturally gravitate to the early (first) symphony of 1926 - a single-movement work of 22 minutes which breaks down into the traditional four sections and whose language is neo-classical with a strong touch of agitprop of the type the young Shostakovich would be about to produce at the same time. The second symphony, more freely tonal and expressionistic, has three short movements which date from 1934 and a Bartók homage of two minutes he added 28 years later. German-English texts. Ksenija Lukic (soprano), Manuela Bress (mezzo), Holger Groschopp (piano), Deutsches-Symphonie Orchester Berlin; Roger Epple.