By alangirvan
27-Sep-2011

Czerny - worth a listen  

Czerny has a reputation as a composer of piano exercises, but this album shows why Beethoven had a high regard for him. Like the music of Ries, this shows the clear influence of Beethoven. The Czerny Symphony No. 2 in D has some parts that are very similar to Beethoven's second symphony, but there are still some interesting and original places in the Czerny work. The Piano Concerto is a grand C major work - perhaps there are places where the piano writing does sound a bit too much like exercises.

The music is perhaps not quite memorable enough to be described as great, but Czerny was a good composer - nice harmonic language, and nice writing for the orchestra. The performances are excellent. I might listen to other Czerny Symphonies when they are available. I would also like to hear some of Czerny's choral music - Masses and Requiems exist.
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