Adventurous collectors may well have already investigated George Whitefield Chadwick's Second Symphony from 1883-6 when it appeared on New World Records in a decent performance by the Albany SO under Julius Hegyi (9/87). If there's nothing in its successor of 1894 to match the captivating melodic charm of that earlier work's scherzo—a movement which ''positively winks at you'', in the words of one contemporary critic—the work still impressed the jury (chaired by one Antonin Dvorak) of the second annual competition organized by the National Conservatory of Music sufficiently to win its composer the first prize of 300 dollars.
Well made and richly orchestrated, here is a thoroughly engaging, warm-hearted symphony, which only occasionally tends to a certain academic drabness (witness the rather dutiful fugal writing in the middle of the slow movement). Though the influence of such European masters as Mendelssohn, Schumann and Brahms is obvious, Chadwick's language also possesses a native, 'folksy' feel in its rhythmic verve and imaginative harmonic resource—I would hazard a guess that readers who have enjoyed, say, Chandos's Stanford cycle should also find Chadwick very much to their liking. Jarvi is, of course, in his element when dusting off precisely such long-neglected corners of the repertoire and both he and his admirable Detroit band make out a superbly eloquent case for this likeable score.
The remaining Barber items also show the Detroit orchestra to be in fine fettle, with rich, pliant strings, beautifully blended, characterful winds and full-throated brass. In the two orchestral excerpts from Vanessa, Jarvi displays an appealing lightness of touch, but the climax of the ''Intermezzo'' lacks something in passion. The sumptuous Music for a scene from Shelley is finely done, though David Zinman (on a stunning all-Barber compilation) achieves perhaps even greater mystery and drama at a marginally more flowing tempo (Barber's marking is Adagio ma non troppo, after all). Jarvi undoubtedly impresses in the thrilling Medea portrait, but the sheer ferocity of the ''Dance of Vengeance'' never quite registers here. For this piece, Munch and the Bostonians remain about the best at the moment, though for my money no one has yet equalled the disturbing malevolence and staggering virtuosity that Thomas Schippers and the New York Philharmonic brought to this score on American Columbia (a reissue soon please, Sony!). Opulent Chandos recording.'