Anne Ozorio wrote:

>Tonight I listened to the BBC broadcast of a concert some weeks back in
>the Henze at 75 series.  What impressed me most were the Five Neapolitan
>Songs, performed by the Nash ensemble with Wolfgang Holzmair.  What
>ethereal music!  I've already ordered the CD, only version available
>being DFD. Is there anyone out there with an interest in Henze?

Can't say that I place him at the top of my list, but I have quite a few
of his scores and recordings of many of his works.  Some of his music
strikes me as the work of genius, yet other works say nothing to me.  Of
his operas, The Bassarids and Young Lord are my favorites.  His Symphonies
never fail to impress me.  The film music is excellent.  The early works
like the Ballet Variations and Undine are wonderful.

He seems to draw on whatever music he likes.  He can sound like Poulence,
say in the Muses of Sicily.  His Sixth Symphony has an intensity similar
to the most complex works of a composer like BA Zimmermann.

Unlike some of the music of Schnittke, no matter how eclectic, I find a
continuity and singularity of purpose in the music of Henze.

While I don't know of the current availability, there was a wonderful boxed
set of his works available on CD from DG.  The ballet Undine can be found,
as I recall, at Berkshire.

Karl