Ddr Symphonies

Faced with five discs of 14 symphonic works by 11 composers from the former German Democratic Republic, the general listener might well throw up his/her hands in dismay. After all, the most famous names here, Hanns Eisler and Paul Dessau, have received scant recognition outside the former East Germany, while names like Goldmann, Geissler, Katzer, and Weiss will be completely unfamiliar. And yet even the general listener cannot deny the extrinsic interest of the symphonies produced by a state that now exists only in the dustbin of history.