To: My Harry Pack, Delos Records
Subject: Future Repertoire Suggestions for Delos International/NJSO

I note with interest Delos' promotional revival of "Heaven and Hell" - the celebrated Delos recording of Mussogrsky music by the NJSO/Zdenek Macal - this Halloweentide. I've also throughly enjoyed the NJSO-Macal partnership in its recordings of Dvorak's key choral works such as the Requiem, Te Deum, The Spectre's Bride as well as its majestic rendition of Gliere's Second Symphony.

Continuing with the theme of "Heaven and Hell", may I strongly urge Delos to strike up another deal with the NJSO to perform and record the following works:

Franz Liszt: "Dante" Symphony S109
Josef Suk: "Asrael" Symphony in C minor op. 27

Both works would undoubtedly provide quite a splended and unforgettable musical experience to concert-goers and serves as a most appropriate selection of pieces for "live" recording, specially when played back-to-back in a single concert session. Both these central European works possess remarkably similarities in the way they are scored. They are filled with thunderous tympani rolls, fearsome hammer blows and frightful blare of brass instruments as they plummet the depths of hellish despair and unbearable human suffering only to conclude on a blissful or consolatory note in their closing passages.

Moreover, 2006 will be the centenary of the composition date of Suk's Asrael Symphony (4 Oct 1906). It will also coincide with the 150th anniversary of Franz Liszt's hell-raising Dante Symphony (completed around July 1856), a work which I believe the NJSO has yet to perform
or at least record. In terms of duration, the Dante lasts for about 45-50 mins while the Asrael which would follow up after the concert intermission plays for about just under an hour.

Liszt's Dante Symphony, an underrated and scarcely performed work, is a musical portrayal of Dante's medieval epic, Divine Comedy, with its compelling depiction of the abandonment of hope for the tormented souls condemned to roast in the infernal fires of Hades, the sense of restlessness and promise of salvation for those trapped in Purgatory as well as the celestial beauty of the heavenly realms. This is captured in The Magnificat which concludes the work on an ethereal note given the generous scoring of harp arpeggios set amidst the glorious accompaniment of a heavenly chorus of angelic voices which imbues the symphony's ending with an otherworldly atmosphere. Some useful background notes on this composition can be accessed at:

http://www.americansymphony.org/dialogues_extensions/2001_02season/2002_01_25/liszt.cfm

In the case of the Asrael Sym, Suk composed the work in joint commemoration of the deaths of his father-in-law, Antonin Dvorak, and his wife Otilka. The title of the work refers to the medieval folkloric Angel of Death which whisks away the souls of the departed. As such, it quotes extensively from the "Death" motif of Dvorak's Requiem. It is therefore a brooding, elegiac and emotionally oppressive work that matches the mind-numbing tragedy found in Mahler's Sixth, Ninth and Tenth symphonies. An illuminating commentary of this work can be found at:

http://www.musicweb.uk.net/Programme_Notes/suk_asraelsym.htm

Liszt's Dante Sym and Suk's Asrael Sym would therefore make an excellent 2-CD coupling should Delos take up the suggestion to record these works with the NJSO. And who better to champion these works than Zdenek Macal, the NJSO's Music Director Emeritus, an acclaimed master of the Czech repertory who has gone on to become the music director of the Czech Philharmonic. Alternatively, the NJSO's newly appointed chief conductor, Neeme Jarvi would also be a worthy advocate of these works being a renowned exponent of lesser performed musical repertory. Maestro Jarvi has after all given insightful and illuminating readings of Shostakovich's stark pathos-filled symphonies. Apart from Macal, Jarvi is the perfect choice to plumb the mind-numbing labrynthine depths of Suk's Asrael Sym. Jarvi is also a seasoned interpreter of Czech music having previously recorded the symphonies of Dvorak, Fibich, Martinu and Smetana's Ma Vlast cycle on the BIS and Chandos labels.

Liszt's neglected tone poems, the rapturous "The Ideals" (Die Ideale) S106 and his final orchestral work, "From the Cradle to the Grave" (Von der Wiege bis zum Grabe) S107 would serve as excellent time-fillers for the two key works. Die Ideale, with its lyrical and soaring string passages, would respond most splendidly to the tautly precise string playing of the NJSO. Die Ideale takes about 25 mins to play through and nicely compliments the 45 min long Dante Sym on the first disc. Liszt final tone poem, Cradle to the Grave, like Suk's Asrael Sym, touches on the twin themes of life's struggles and death. It showcases Liszt's late compositional style with its characteristic use of sparse textures and the employment of highly advanced and experimental harmonies. Lasting some 13-14 mins, it would make a nice tail-end to Suk's hour-long (approx 60 mins) Sym on the second disc. This proposed 2-CD set certainly carries all the hallmarks of a bold, innovatively programmed and potentially award-winning recording.

So can Delos and NJSO afford to pass up on this double-whammy of an opportunity. I eagerly look forward to your response to my suggestion.

Best Regards,
Mr Voon