Having been somewhat neglected in recent decades, Franck’s once-popular Symphony in D minor appears to be enjoying something of a resurgence, Alain Altinoglu’s new recording being the third to have appeared in as many years, on the tail of the versions by Mikko Franck (Alpha, 7/20) and Gustavo Gimeno (Pentatone). At 35 minutes, Altinoglu’s account is the fastest interpretation of the symphony I’ve heard – almost four minutes quicker than Monteux’s famous recording (RCA, 1/86) and a minute faster than the swift readings by Ashkenazy (Decca, 1/91) and Tortelier (Chandos, 5/01). One might question whether the introduction is really Lento or the main body of the first movement is Allegro non troppo, but the result has a freshness and energy that’s compelling, and the second movement conveys warmth and ardour. However, despite Altinoglu adopting a slightly slower pace in the finale, the performance doesn’t quite achieve the fiery grandeur to be found in the best of the competition.

The new album does, however, carry something of a trump card in the form of the first-ever recording of the original version of the symphonic interlude from the ‘poème-symphonie’ Rédemption. The music was cut from the score before the premiere of Rédemption in 1873 and replaced by the version that has been played ever since. The original version, later entitled Ancien morceau symphonique by Franck, was considered lost until eventually being rediscovered by Franck specialist Joël-Marie Fauquet and performed for the first time in 2022. Entirely different from its replacement, the piece opens with scoring of a distinctly Wagnerian nature before progressing in a manner that borrows from Liszt and closing with a hint of Mendelssohnian fairy music. The album concludes with an urgent and exciting account of Franck’s 1882 symphonic poem Le chasseur maudit.

Alpha’s finely engineered recording allows Franck’s scoring in all three works to be heard with admirable balance and clarity. On the debit side, however, the presentation of the conductor and orchestra biographies in capital letters in the booklet makes the text very hard work to read.