Louise Farrenc: Symphonies 1-3, Overtures in E minor - E flat

Laurence Equilbey conducts the Insula Orchestra in the first complete recording on period instruments of Louise Farrenc’s symphonies and overtures.  This 2CD set expands upon the 2021 Erato release of Farrenc’s Symphonies Nos 1 and 3, adding the Symphony No 2, Overture No 1 in E minor, and Overture No 2 in E-flat Major. Farrenc (1804-75) was a prominent figure in 19th century Paris, a pioneer both as a female composer and as a symphonist in a city obsessed with opera. As Fanfare wrote in response to the recording of her Symphonies Nos 1 and 3: “It would be hard to imagine better performances, a better-sounding recording, or better advocacy for Farrenc than we receive here from Laurence Equilbey and her period-instrument chamber orchestra.”