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Available for over a year

Mahan Esfahani for Building a Library recommends a recording of César Franck's Symphony in D minor. Today, a new recording of Franck's only symphony is a rare event and it has all but disappeared from the concert hall. But with its satisfying cyclic form and impressive fusion of French and German musical traditions it was once a work that every self-respecting maestro had in his repertoire and which generated an impressive recorded legacy, a veritable Who's Who of the great conductors of the last century. There have been signs, though, of a renewed interest in it among some of today's conductors, represented by a handful of more recent recordings. Recommended recording: Orchestre de Paris, Semyon Bychkov (conductor) Philips 4320962 (download) Decca 4826331 (51 CDs – The Art of Semyon Bychkov) Also recommended: Orchestre National de France, Leonard Bernstein (conductor) Deutsche Grammophon 4786971 (CD) Historical choice: Concertgebouw Orchestra, Willem Mengelberg (conductor) Decca 4807636 (15 CDs Willem Mengelberg: The Concertgebouw Recordings)