Oliver Triendl, NDR Radiophilharmonie & Hossein Pishkar - Johanna Senfter: Symphony No.4 op.50 & Piano Concerto op.90 (2026) [Hi-Res]

Throughout her long life, Johanna Senfter enriched nearly all “classical” genres. In an impressive catalog of some 130 numbered works and a multitude of “other” compositions, nine symphonies rise like a musical massif; Max Reger, the private teacher of this comprehensively trained artist, had given his “placet” to her very first symphony—undoubtedly an encouraging endorsement for further endeavors of the same kind. These works consistently reveal the courage to take on two giants at once: the expansive dimensions of Anton Bruckner and the complex polyphony that Max Reger had “exemplified” for her. His influence becomes even more evident in the second work of this new production, the Piano Concerto, Op. 90, which, with its restrained yet poignant lyricism and its vigorous bursts of energy, appears as a distant homage to Opus 114 by her teacher, who died prematurely. In contrast, the Fourth Symphony from 1924 is unmistakably marked by a world-famous “Romantic” symphony, though Johanna Senfter certainly uses its original motifs to create a monumental structure all her own—a fitting anniversary gift for the 100th birthday of the brilliant maverick from St. Florian.