Wilms, Johann Wilhelm was once called the Dutch Beethoven. His works were extremely popular and were met with tremendous praise. However like contemporaries such as Eberl and Fesca, it became increasing difficult to compete with Beethoven and his works eventually fell into oblivion.

This new release on CPO documents two of Wilms’s symphonies and the Overture in D major. Howard Griffiths and the NDR Radiophilharmonie give an inspired interpretation and demonstrate the accessibility of this composer’s music.