On this recording, Martyn Brabbins leads the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in two works from the crucible of the Viennese fin de siecle. Zemlinsky wrote his two completed symphonies while studying at the conservatory. He wrote under the watchful eye of it's conservative masters, and was greatly influenced by Brahms; but like many of his classmates and contemporaries, Zemlinsky peppered the otherwise bland conservatory diet with visits to performances of new works by Verdi, Wagner and Richard Strauss. Caught between these two factions, these symphonies show him wrestling, often thrillingly, with the pedagogical parameters imposed upon him.