RUPERTO CHAPÍ (1851-1909): Symphony in D Minor, Fantasía moresca.

Description: Known as the author of over a hundred zarzuelas, Chapí finished his only symphony in early 1877 (so it is another pre-Brahms romantic work in the genre) as a mandatory conservatory assignment. Since there was practically no symphonic tradition whatsover in Spain, his models were Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Viennese Classicism. The resulting four-movement work, lasting 34 minutes, is very much like something a German-speaker might have written around 1840. The Fantasía is an orchestration of an 1873 work for military band and, since it was orchestrated in 1879, after the symphony and after to trips to Rome and to Paris, it shows knowledge of, say, Bizet, Saint-Säens and Massenet. Orquesta de la Comunidad de Madrid; José Ramón Encinar.