VA - Nova: Sinfonik in der DDR (2008)

Faced with five discs of 14 symphonic works by 11 composers from the former German Democratic Republic, the general listener might well throw up his/her hands in dismay. After all, the most famous names here, Hanns Eisler and Paul Dessau, have received scant recognition outside the former East Germany, while names like Goldmann, Geissler, Katzer, and Weiss will be completely unfamiliar. And yet even the general listener cannot deny the extrinsic interest of the symphonies produced by a state that now exists only in the dustbin of history.
However, there is little of intrinsic interest in the music here. The earliest work, Eisler's 1938 post-expressionist Fünf Orchesterstücke, sounds like lesser Berg, while the later works sound like lesser Hartmann (Wagner-Régeny's 1952 post-romantic Drei Orchesterstücke), lesser Shostakovich (Cilensek's 1958 modernist Sinfonie für Streicher), lesser Henze (Geissler's 1963 post-modernist Sinfonia No. 2), or lesser Schnittke (Katzer's post-post-modernist Konzert für Orchester No. 1). Most of the time, the forms are conservative with few flashes of inspiration, the harmonic language ranges from almost-but-not-quite tonal to hardcore atonal, the colors range from austere gray to sheets of red and violet with occasional splashes of harpsichord or electric keyboards, and the content, to be brutally honest, is quickly forgotten. Though composed with skill and sincerity and performed with professionalism and dedication by a host of East German conductors and orchestras, this five-disc set will likely be of interest primarily to those with a scholarly interest in the period. The general listener may well want to pass it by.