Louise Farrenc (1804-1875) : Symphony No. 1, Overtures, Grand Variations on a Theme by Count Gallenberg

History remembers Louise Farrenc today as a teacher and piano virtuoso from a long line of artists. It was not until the middle of the 20th century, with the dawn of a marked interest in works composed by women, that her compositions were once again the subject of attention. Christoph König and the European Soloists return to Farrenc’s repertoire after having recorded the composer’s two other symphonies in 2018, again on the Naxos label. With a style that navigates between the forms of a classicism and a rather conventional romanticism, the sound textures mastered by Farrenc in the Symphony No. 1 and the two Overtures give way to the complexity of her piano writing in the Grandes variations sur un thème du Comte Gallenberg, performed by pianist Jean Muller, who has won numerous awards for his elegant and dynamic playing.