Symphony No. 1 in C Minor
Symphony No. 2 in E Minor

If you enjoy the symphonic music of two of her contemporaries, Felix Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann, then you're sure to be in your comfort zone listening to these highly polished symphonies by Emilie Mayer (1812-1883). Beethoven's influence lurks behind this music as well, especially within the slow movements, and Chopin's romanticism is never far away.

If you were unaware that Emilie Mayer was a female musician and composer, I'm convinced that you would consider these symphonic works to be on par with the efforts of her male counterparts. But during the 19th century a woman pursuing music, and composition in particular, was frowned upon, and the simple fact of being a woman lessened the public's opinion of her talents. She did manage to make this her profession during her lifetime, but her fame quickly evaporated after her death, and her name was relegated to the shadowy corners of music history. She studied composition with Carl Loewe and her orchestration skills in particular are finely tuned. Her music sounds original and inspired, and nowhere do you get the impression that she was simply imitating the trends of the day, and as the lengthy opening movement of the Symphony No. 2 demonstrates, she was also quite capable of well-crafted thematic development.

The members of the NDR Radiophilharmonie under the direction of up-and-coming conductor Leo McFall, who has enjoyed assisting Bernard Haitink, Herbert Blomstedt and Jonathan Nott in the preparation of concerts with many fine orchestras, play this music with the same expressive care they would a Brahms symphony for example, and capture and project all of its underlying charms.