Fils Anton: Symphonies

"I consider him to be the best symphonic composer who ever lived. Splendor, fullness of tone, the mighty all-shaking roar and rage of the harmonic flood; novelty in the ideas and turns ... have not been able to rob him of general admiration until this hour." Christian Friedrich Schubart was so effusive in his praise of the symphonies of Anton Fils (1733-1760). Although Fils was one of the most important symphonists of the Mannheim School, only a few details of his biography are known for certain. His early death also contributed to the creation of legends about the composer. The only thing that is certain is that he was employed as a cellist in the Mannheim court orchestra and was therefore not actually obliged to compose. However, the number of works that have survived under his name is surprisingly large. Michi Gaigg has now recorded five of these magnificent symphonies for us with her L'Orfeo Barockorchester: The enthusiasm of his contemporaries for this brilliant young firebrand is all too understandable in these rousing interpretations.