For such a well-written, tuneful, and all-around agreeable composition it’s curious that Goldmark’s Rustic Wedding Symphony remains on the fringes of the repertoire, with relatively few recordings available. (That is, by today’s glutted standards. Thirty years ago it was respectable for even major works to have but a handful of versions in the catalog.)
This new version by Gerd Schaller and the Philharmonie Festiva can boast some of the best recorded sound afforded this work–clear, detailed, and with solid presence. Schaller offers a sprightly account (especially as compared to Previn’s turgid rendition on EMI), with the jaunty finale coming off best. Almost as good is the lovely Im Garten slow movement (a fascinating amalgam of Dvorák, Grieg, and Bizet), where the Philharmonie’s woodwinds make some beautifully plangent sounds. After the light-hearted symphony Goldmark’s heavy-weather Prelude to his opera Merlin comes as a bit of wet-blanket, and is probably best heard on its own (if at all).
Despite theses niceties, Schaller’s version must yield to Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic, who really get into the fiber of this music and play it for all it’s worth (also, the Sony disc offers a handsome selection of fillers). The sound of that release is slightly dated, however, so if that’s your priority, this new disc will do.
