Symphony No. 3 in B-flat major (1931)
Symphonic Prelude to a Tragedy (1933)

"When I listen to the music of Austrian composer Karl Weigl (1881-1949), I sometimes discern in certain passages what sounds to me like music Gustav Mahler may have written had he lived longer and focused on the internal mechanisms of symphonic writing rather than trying to evoke the unfathomable. After all Weigl did at some point work for Gustav Mahler under the role of a solo performance coach at the Vienna Court Opera, studied under Zemlinsky, and had Anton Webern as a classmate." This opening statement which I wrote for a previous review of this composer's Symphonies 4 & 6, very much applies here as well. As a matter of fact, the opening movement of Weigl's Symphony No. 3 in B-flat major strongly projects the ominous, yet life-affirming spirit of Mahler's own Third Symphony, but with more refined detail. Metaphorically speaking I suppose you could say that Weigl's focus is on the forest rather its complete Mahlerian ecosystem. It's Weigl's minutiae wrapped inside stupendous orchestration that makes his music so captivating.

Karl Weigl's masterful harmonic writing comes to the fore within the inner Adagio movement, once again focused on continuous and sequential denouement and luxuriant orchestration rather than melodic beauty, which all leads to a translucent and warm resolution. I'm convinced that the uplifting final Allegro movement with its brilliantly punchy finale will have you shaking your head in bewilderment as to why this composer's music went unnoticed and ignored all this time.

Thumbs up to the executives at Capriccio for their rewarding and much appreciated overview of this unjustly neglected 20th century composer which, in my opinion, stands shoulder to shoulder with the best of them.