Richard Pennycuick writes:

>...Felix Draeseke (1835-1913) ....played by the Wuppertal Symphony which
>is hardly a world- renowned outfit, but we've got used to good performances
>from lesser-known orchestras.Perhaps Denis or another lister who lives in
>Germany knows a little more about the music or the orchestra or both?

I'm glad Barry Brenesal beat me answering this one because I would have
had to have recourse to my music encyclopaedia.  I own not a single
recording by Draeseke, and haven't heard one even on the radio in years.
As I remember his sound, it's of a style of its own, but rooted in the
Romantic tradition.  The firm of Musik Dabringhaus & Grimm (MDG), despite
its lawyerish name is legit music.  As for the Wuppertal orchestra, it's
not to be sneezed at, but distinctly provincial.  The last time I looked,
and that was long ago, I recognized some names familiar from work in some
serious and well-known groups in Cologne.  The orchestra used to be
generously endowed by the government of the Land Northrhine-Westphalia and
by the DGB, the Federation of German Labor--in the cause of Ruhr Kultur.
Maybe it still is.  It used to play regularly in various auditoria in the
Ruhr and at summer festivals in the region.  But I must admit that I
haven't followed it lately, and never closely.

Denis Fodor                     Internet:[log in to unmask]