Reviewing an earlier issue in the CPO Pfitzner series (5/91) I noted ''the problematic nature'' of his orchestral music. This new disc doesn't remove the problem, but it does help to explain why listeners—and performers—persist with music that is so much less forthcoming in its aims than that of Zemlinsky, Schmidt or Schreker.
It's the C sharp minor Symphony that stands out. An orchestral version (1932) of a string quartet (1925), it seems inherently orchestral, especially in the gripping interplay between brass and strings, which Pfitzner exploits to remarkable effect. The scherzo has a strange confrontation between tragic, chorale-like material and its main, skittering theme, while the slow movement is no less in incident. Some phases of its episodic form even have a pugnacity that suggests Prokofiev, and that composer is also evoked in Pfitzner's finale, a small indication of how disconcertingly this music counters its own apparent premises of style and structure.
The two shorter works also have their moments of idiosyncrasy, especially the last movement of the Fantasie (1947) which combines gestures of triumph and defeat. The Elegie und Reigen (1940) has some attractive solo wind writing, but runs out of steam before the end, as if Pfitzner had gradually lost interest. The disc confronts the listener with several such strange experiences. The performances are idiomatic, but the recording, like that of the earlier CPO Pfitzner disc, has more generalized resonance and less textural clarity than the music ideally needs.'