 L'Autrichien Robert Fuchs doit ce qui lui reste de notoriété à ses talents de professeur qui a vu défiler dans sa classe de théorie musicale au conservatoire de Vienne plusieurs générations de musiciens dont nombre d'entre eux deviendront célèbres (Wolf, Mahler, Richard Strauss, Sibelius, Zemlinsky, Enesco, Korngold...), plutôt qu'à sa musique qui a sombré dans l'oubli et à laquelle quelques labels courageux (CPO, Naxos) tentent aujourd'hui de donner une seconde chance. L'entreprise n'est pas vaine : sans crier au génie, on découvre un compositeur au métier très sûr et dont l'objectif assumé semble avant tout de faire plaisir avec une musique heureuse, agréable et accessible, exempte de tout drame, violence et passion. Ses symphonies s'inscrivent fort honorablement dans la veine d'un Brahms (celui des Sérénades), ami et aîné respecté qui l’aidera à trouver un éditeur. Fraîche, radieuse et euphonique, la Première (1884) campe une atmosphère pastorale et printanière, aimablement agitée par un vif Intermezzo Mendelssohnien. Plus ambitieuse, solennelle et inspirée, la Seconde (1887) séduit immédiatement grâce à son beau thème inaugural énoncé aux cuivres et qui irrigue l’imposant premier mouvement, sa force expressive et le raffinement de son orchestration. Presque sans rivaux au sein d'une maigre discographie, Karl-Heinz Steffens et le WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln placent la barre très haut. (Alexis Brodsky) Following the CD featuring the Piano Concerto op. 27 (cpo 999 893-2), cpo is now releasing two symphonies by Robert Fuchs. It was the first serenade by the Austrian composer Fuchs that not only made him famous but also popularly known as the »Serenade-Fuchs« (Serenade Fox). Brahms held Fuchs in great esteem, and compositional luminaries like Mahler, Wolf, Sibelius, Zemlinsky, and Richard Strauss numbered among his pupils. Moreover, he enjoyed success not only as a serenade composer but also with his other orchestral pieces and his symphonies. This highly imaginative music rich in ideas makes a very strong impression and has room for carefully and lovingly elaborated details, refined colors, and dynamic nuances first revealing its outstanding qualities. Since audible quotations and reminiscences of Schubert, Schumann, and Brahms repeatedly surface particularly in the second symphony, Fuchs may also seem to have been situated between the times. The Brahms pupil Richard von Perger wrote: "Fuchs is – we would almost like to say: Thank God! – no Titan and does not want to be one; after all, the artist must above all recognize the path followed by his talent and its limits. Fuchs calls his own a creative power that very much aims at beauty and is noble and unique in its sphere; he pursues the paths shown to us by the classicists, knowing very well that for the instrumental composer only these paths lead to salvation. He faithfully adheres to his ideals and presses forward with tireless diligence, constantly laying new and welcome offerings on the altar of art. […] In 1887, during his summer vacation in Berchtesgaden’s splendid meadows, Fuchs completed a second symphony (E flat major), and we heard this work and greeted it with hearty applause during the most recent concert by the Philharmonic".
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