Anton Reicha - Complete Symphonies, Vol. 1 (Valentin Egel)

Information

Composer: Anton Reicha

• Symphony in D Major, AJR I:17
• Overture in D Major, AJR I:8a
• Overture in C Major, AJR I:2

Münchner Rundfunkorchester

Valentin Egel, conductor

Date: 2026

Label: CPO

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In 1785, Czech-born composer Antonín Reicha moved to Bonn, where he formed a lifelong friendship with the young Ludwig van Beethoven. While Beethoven achieved fame in Vienna, Reicha settled in Paris, earning immense acclaim as a composer and an influential music theorist and pedagogue to students like Hector Berlioz and César Franck. Reicha’s extensive catalog features highly experimental symphonies, overtures, and chamber music. Noted for his avant-garde techniques, his compositions frequently utilized unconventional time signatures and disruptive metric shifts that challenged traditional structures—innovations that likely amused Beethoven and continue to intrigue modern listeners today.

Anton Reicha (1770–1836) was a prominent Bohemia-born composer, musical theorist, and educator who became a naturalized French citizen. A contemporary and lifelong friend of Ludwig van Beethoven, Reicha earned widespread acclaim during his later career in Paris, where he served as a professor at the Paris Conservatoire. He is celebrated as one of the most influential teachers of his era, instructing legendary figures such as Franz Liszt, Hector Berlioz, and César Franck. As a composer, Reicha was a visionary pioneer of the wind quintet literature and an avant-garde theorist whose experimental works explored radical, ahead-of-their-time concepts like polyrhythm and polytonality.

Valentin Egel has established himself as a prominent figure in the younger generation of conductors, currently serving as General Music Director of the Croatian National Theatre Ivan pl. Zajc and the Rijeka Symphony Orchestra. Born in 1994 into a musical family, he was introduced early to the piano before pursuing orchestral conducting studies at the University of Music Franz Liszt Weimar under mentors such as Nicolás Pasquet and Gunter Kahlert. His career has been shaped by major competition successes, including the “Lovro von Matačić” and “Campus Conducting” prizes, as well as support from the German Conductors’ Forum. He has conducted leading European orchestras and appeared at major festivals such as the Savonlinna Opera Festival and the Dubrovnik Summer Festival, working with a wide range of soloists and ensembles. His trajectory reflects a rapid ascent marked by both artistic versatility and institutional leadership within the European orchestral landscape.

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