Enescu’s career as a symphonist is rather more complicated than his three numbered symphonies might suggest. The official First (1905) was preceded by four ‘study’ Symphonies (1895-8), and he sketched a Fourth (1934) and a Fifth (1935, performing editions of which have been made by Pascal Bentoiu) before completing the Chamber Symphony in 1954 (but only with help from Mihalovici as amanuensis). This fine new release therefore provides the sixth and tenth of his symphonic works (excluding the Symphonie concertante for cello), and what a mixed pair they make.

The Second Symphony (1912) is lush and Straussian, its increasingly opulent scoring placing it firmly in the pre-Great War period. Its three substantial movements form a beautifully coherent design (Enescu learnt much from those ‘study’ scores). By contrast, the Chamber Symphony is, in the judgement of Lionel Salter (who played in its UK premiere), ‘subtly constructed, complex, abrasive and thick-textured’. Abrasive?
It’s expressively elusive, for sure, and in style somewhat backward-looking, but I find its scoring nicely judged and not at all congested.

The Tampere players seem to relish repertoire that sounds both familiar and unfamiliar. Hannu Lintu directs sympathetic performances, in tempo consistently slower than Foster’s in No 2 – by seven minutes overall. This expansive view works well enough, but I marginally prefer the Monte Carlo rival. In the Chamber Symphony, though, Lintu is swifter than Foster in Lausanne by 90 seconds, to the work’s advantage. Ondine’s excellent sound is the finest that either work has received, though EMI’s and Claves’ remain perfectly fine. This one’s recommended.