Editorial Reviews

The historic town of L'viv (Lemberg), founded on the banks of the Poltava river, has changed hands many times since it was founded in the thirteenth century. Technically always belonging to Ukraine, Lemberg began as part of the Kingdom of Kiev, then was taken over by Poland (as "Lvov"), once belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, then made part of Poland again, and finally reverted back to Ukraine under Soviet domination. It has only been since the fall of the Soviet Union that Lemberg has enjoyed status as an autonomous city within Ukraine as a fully sovereign state. In 1998, Swiss musician Gunhard Mattes founded the INSO Lemberg (International New Symphony Orchestra) to help provide a platform for young orchestral musicians from the city to make a living apart from having to compete for the limited number of positions within the local opera orchestra. Mattes' success with the INSO Lemberg has been startling, to judge from Encores!, their fifth outing with the German Novalis label, best known for its trade in expert period-instrument performances. This is a modern orchestra, however, and a remarkably tight, crisp, and vigorous one at that. For advanced collectors well stocked on classical repertoire, this collection of bleeding chunks and familiar bonbons will not hold much appeal. However, if you would like to hear this fine orchestra put through its paces, then Encores! is a well-recorded, well-played, and enjoyable disc. Moreover, it contains at least one work that appears to be unique to the catalog: the "Sinfonia del Sig. Wolfgango Mozart figlio" of Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart, who was based out of Lemberg from 1811 to 1838 and is the city's most famous classical composer. Uncle Dave Lewis, All Music Guide

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