Ignace Joseph Pleyel, one of 38 children in the same family, was praised by the acerbic
Mozart and warmly regarded by his teacher
Haydn. The promoters of
Haydn's London appearances thought of him as almost
Haydn's equal, of sufficient stature to consider mounting a "battle of the symphonies" event. From this recording by the
Niederösterreichisches Tonkünstlerorchester or Lower Austrian Musical Arts Orchestra (rather confusingly rendered as NTO Tonkünstlerorchester, which is like saying "PIN number"), it's hard to see what the fuss was about. The three symphonies performed here, all from Pleyel's heyday around 1790, are pretty dull, with plain triadic themes, modest melodic gifts, and few departures from basic diatonic harmonies. It's hard to determine what makes the middle work a "Grande Sinfonie," although it is slightly longer than the other two. Some of the listener's problems here come from the performances, recorded under three different conductors in the 1980s; the strings have a harsh sound, and the transfers haven't helped them any. Recordings of Pleyel's music are still rare, which may account for the re-release of these, and for this reason this disc will find a place in large collections of Classical-period music. Booklet notes are in German and French only.