Echoing Schumann, Schoenberg and Mahler, these songs have a concentrated, poignant intensity that is impressive.

A few years ago Blochwitz, Schmidt and Garben, together with Barbara Bonney as soprano and Anne Sofie von Otter as mezzo, recorded all of Zemlinsky's published songs (DG, 10/89). These are the ones he didn't publish; why not? When sung as they are here in chronological order the reason for a while seems obvious: a good many of the earlier ones are competent but rather ordinary. Apart from a charming hint of Schumann in the very first of them (and an almost literal quotation from him in the second) they have little individuality until about a third of the way through the collection. Then, in "Orientalisches Sonett" (Vier Lieder), there is an appropriately languishing touch of fin de siecle exoticism, as well as a deft reflection of the form of a sonnet, and, on "Süsse, süsse Sommernacht" (from the same set) a long and beautiful lullaby melody, finely poised over an arpeggiated accompaniment. From then on things get much more interesting.

In his notes, Anthony Beaumont suggests that in some cases it wasn't dissatisfaction that deterred Zemlinsky from publication; the austere, searching "Es war ein alter König (Drei Lieder), for example, may have been a private reflection on Mahler's marriage to Alma Schindler, with whom Zemlinsky himself was in love. Similarly three settings of Richard Dehmel, obviously designed as a set, are perhaps about the love affair Zemlinsky's sister (Schoenberg's first wife) was having with the painter Richard Gerstl. The relationship and Schoenberg's reaction to it led to a cooling of Zemlinsky's close friendship with his brother-in-law; Gerstl later killed himself. The songs have a concentrated, poignant intensity so impressive that one is tempted to speculate about other hidden reasons for Zemlinsky's reticence. "Jane Grey" (from Zwei Balladen), for example, was entered for a competition to which Schoenberg submitted a setting of exactly the same text. Is that why it almost out-Schoenbergs Schoenberg in its tenuous hold on tonality, its curiously gripping bare angularity? But in "Der verlorene Haufen" (Zwei Balladen), also set by Schoenberg for the same competition, Zemlinsky seems to be outMahlering Mahler in the fearsome march-toccata that accompanies this grim tale of a front-line regiment contemplating death each morning.

The manner of the Dehmel songs is recaptured in a haunting group of settings of Hofmannsthal (Vier Lieder); there are also two curious comic ballads (the Brettl-Lieder, one quite funny, the other—about a man who eats so much that he bursts-rather disgusting), a most beautiful cradle song over a dead child ("Uber eine Wiege", Drei Lieder) and a much later, nobly stoic contemplation of old age (Und einmal gehst du) that are in no way inferior to the best of Zemlinsky's published songs. Blochwitz, Schmidt and Garben are as reliable as they were in the earlier set, Vermillion matches them admirably and Ziesak, if a little hard and bright at times, can fine her voice down to an effective intimacy. The recordings are excellent.

-- Gramophone [6/1995]

Includes notes in English, German, and French. Song texts in German and English.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Recorded in: Danish Radio Concert Hall, Copenhagen 21-22 February 1997, 28-30 April 1997 and 1 May 1997 Producer(s) Brian Couzens Claus Due Sound Engineer(s) Lars S. Christensen Jørn Jacobsen

ZEMLINSKY : Symphony in B-Flat Major

ZEMLINSKY: Symphony No. 1 / Das Glaserne Herz

Classical Music

Includes work(s) by Alexander von Zemlinsky. Soloist: Silke Avenhaus.

Zemlinsky’s Die Seejungfrau has been recorded at least seven times, but this newcomer has some special qualities. It is without question the most gorgeously played and opulently engineered, which is saying a lot. After all, Chailly and the Concertgebouw (Decca) aren’t exactly slouches, and neither for that matter is Zemlinsky authority Antony Beaumont with the Czech Philharmonic (Chandos). It was Beaumont, in fact, who produced this new critical edition, restoring some five minutes of music to the central movement, including perhaps the work’s most convincing climax and interesting harmonies. So for that reason alone this performance, conducted by Storgards with 100% conviction and confidence, is worth having.

The work itself remains problematic. Thematically it owes quite a bit to Tchaikovsky–Francesca da Rimini in its “motto” theme, and the slow movement of the Fifth Symphony elsewhere. Its three movements can very easily come off as relatively undifferentiated sonic blobs due to Zemlinsky’s habit of immediately resorting to lyrical noodling just as things start to get moving. Each part seems to end five or six times before it actually stops, with the loud closing bars of Part Two sounding especially gratuitous. But the music is so beautiful from moment to moment, and so brilliantly scored, that in a performance like this one the defects hardly matter. If you’re a fan of Seejungfrau, this is now the version to own, and if you aren’t a fan, this one might make you one.

As to the coupling, well, here’s a story. At least two other very good recordings of Seejungfrau come in tandem with the Sinfonietta–Dausgaard’s and Conlon’s. This version, though, is the premiere recording of a recent rescoring for chamber orchestra by one Roland Freisitzer. I am not going to accuse Freisitzer of parasitically attaching himself to the coattails of the great (like Anthony Paine, for example, with his abominable Elgar Third Symphony), because no one is making a living creating alternate versions of works by Zemlinsky. On the other hand, the justification offered for disfiguring a late masterpiece by claiming to make it more playable by chamber orchestras just won’t wash, for several reasons.

First of all, there’s plenty of great music already written for chamber orchestra. No one needs Zemlinsky’s Sinfonietta any more than we need the recent silly, pint-sized arrangement of Mahler’s Second Symphony and other such curiosities–especially on recordings. Second, Zemlinsky’s Sinfonietta is scored for a fairly modest ensemble as it is–basically only double winds and standard brass, with no tuba. Freisitzer eliminates the three percussion parts, but adds a piano, pointlessly. His choices beg the question of just what constitutes a “chamber orchestra.” After all, if the Tapiola Sinfonietta under Mario Venzago can play Bruckner’s Fifth Symphony, then Zemlinsky’s Sinfonietta certainly stands squarely within the realm of possibility. Finally, it seems singularly strange, not to say conceptually confused, to couple a carefully prepared critical edition of Seejungfrau with a mongrel deconstruction of the Sinfonietta. Do Zemlinsky’s own ideas matter or not? The scoring of the Sinfonietta, even more than with Seejungrau, constitutes one of the most telling and original aspects of the work. This was a bad idea, despite the fact that the arrangement is excellently played by Storgards and members of the Helsinki Phil.

So because the recording of Seejungrau is so terrific, and perfectly fine recordings of the Sinfonietta are not that hard to find (including Beaumont’s, differently coupled), I am going to base the rating for this release mostly on the former, and largely ignore the latter. Seejungfrau really is that good.

-- ClassicsToday.com

Classical Music

Classical Music

Guido Bardi, the son of the Duke of Florence, kneels before Bianca, the wife of the rich merchant Simone, and holds her hands. Simone, who has returned early from a business trip, then enters the room. The very beginning of Alexander Zemlinsky's one-act opera "A Florentine Tragedy", based on Oscar Wilde's play of the same name in the German translation by Max Meyerfeld, presents the conflict from which the tragedy arises. This stage work by the Austrian composer, who was forgotten for many decades, had its world premiere on January 30, 1917, in Stuttgart and was not performed again until 1977. This CD from BR-KLASSIK documents the Munich premiere on November 27, 2022, with the Münchner Rundfunkorchester conducted by Patrick Hahn, recorded live at the city’s Prinzregententheater.

With the "Florentine Tragedy", albeit rather belatedly, Zemlinsky followed the fashion for Renaissance and one-act works at the turn of the century. Richard Strauss had made his mark in that genre with "Salome" and "Elektra" – and the literary basis for the former had also been provided by Oscar Wilde. In the very first notes, seemingly aware of this similarity with Strauss’s work, Zemlinsky goes on the offensive with an "upbeat fanfare" – as the prelude to an orchestral introduction that can easily be interpreted as a musical representation of the main romantic relationship. At the transition to the actual stage action, however, Zemlinsky switches to a somber minor-key atmosphere. When Simone appears, the music already makes it clear that the plot cannot end otherwise than tragically. For whom, we do not yet know…

In the Munich premiere of Zemlinsky's "A Florentine Tragedy", Rachael Wilson (mezzo-soprano) sang the part of Bianca, Benjamin Bruns (tenor) was Prince Guido Bardi, and Christopher Maltman (baritone) portrayed the merchant Simone. The Münchner Rundfunkorchester performed under the young conductor Patrick Hahn. Last year, the 27-year-old Austrian – who since 2021 in Wuppertal has been the youngest Generalmusikdirektor in the German-speaking world – was engaged as the Münchner Rundfunkorchester’s Principal Guest Conductor.

The ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, headed by Cornelius Meister, presents Alexander Zemlinsky's "The Mermaid". Zemlinsky's "The Mermaid" is a rougher orchestral painting, created in the spirit of Jugendstil, according to the romantic fairy tale of Hans Christian Andersen. Teresa Vogl and orchestral director Christoph Becher listen carefully: the glittering colors of the waves, the longing of the enchanted mermaid after a solid ground under her feet, the perfidious suggestion of the water witch, the splendid wedding at the court. It is true that the marriage of the prince and the mermaid is of limited duration, but Zemlinsky gives the listeners a harmonious finale - just as it is for a fairy tale.

By the 1890s Zemlinsky had already acquired a reputation as a promising young composer and pianist. In October 1897 Gustav Mahler had become director of the Vienna Hofoper and was determined to do what he could to help Zemlinsky. With characteristic energy Mahler worked his way through the opera with Zemlinsky, advising on and making changes in the music and the libretto. The resulting score provides a fascinating and little-explored document for both Zemlinsky and Mahler studies. Es war einmal received its first performance under Mahler on the 22 January 1900. For the Zemlinsky 150th Birthday Anniversary, Capriccio presents a new remastered edition of this legendary first recording from 1987.

When Alexander Zemlinsky died in 1942, there was no telling if or when posthumous recognition of his work would take place. Typical though his reception was for the 20th century pockmarked by two world wars and Nazi rule, it remains remarkable just how differently Zemlinsky, born on October 14th, 1871, has been judged throughout the last 150 years. He had his works premiered at the Vienna Court Opera by Mahler. He commanded the utmost respect of his pupil and brother-in-law Arnold Schoenberg. He was celebrated as the director of Prague's New German Theatre. And yet, still in his lifetime, his work succumbed to political and stylistic changes; he had been persecuted and was forgotten. We've sort of come full circle: Zemlinsky is once again considered a great composer whose works don't have to shy away from comparison with those of his famous contemporaries and whose music gets performed at least occasionally. With this special Anniversary Edition, Capriccio revere the huge spectrum of his outstanding musically compositions.

REVIEWS:

This six-disc set of Zemlinsky recordings on Capriccio contains a nicely representative selection of vocal, orchestral and chamber works, from the Brahmsian D-minor Symphony to what are arguably Zemlinsky’s two greatest (non-operatic) pieces: the Lyric Symphony, and the Second String Quartet. Fine sonics and first-rate performances make this an excellent introduction to a masterful composer.

-- ClassicsToday.com (David Hurwitz)

Bertrand de Billy directs this performance of A Florentine Tragedy with a grand sweep. The vibrant, close sound provides great detail and gives the climactic moments considerable impact. The recording proves amazingly successful in keeping the singers audible through some mighty orchestral outbursts; of course that’s to Zemlinsky’s credit as well.

-- MusicWeb International

Zemlinsky's powerful Piano Trio...should have a larger niche in this repertoire. The Pacific Trio's performance is elegant and devoid of histrionics.

-- Fanfare