At the end of the alphabet: Zemlinsky

[Cato]

...meanwhile back at the end of the alphabet and towards the end of his life Zemlinsky composed a wonderful work which I listened to for the first time today. This is his setting of Psalm XIII

Thanks for the interesting comment, vandermolen!  Your praise of this Psalm XIII led me to purchase this composer's "Complete Choral Works" on EMI under James Conlon, in a twofer that also includes the orchestral songs (which have been in my collection since they were first issued). I've neglected Zemlinsky for quite a while, but today reviisited Die Seejunfrau and the Sinfonietta with pleasure (particularly the latter).

The James Conlon Zemlinsky recordings are all classic performances!  He has a special affinity, it would seem, for Zemlinsky's style.

[kyjo]

Just wanted to bring attention to Zemlinsky's wonderful Sinfonietta, which I discovered today. Written near the end of the composer's life in 1934, it exhibits a more acerbic (though hardly unapproachable) style than his earlier works. Stylistically, it reminded me in places of Weill's equally great Symphony no. 2, written in the same year. Zemlinsky did this work no favors by giving it such a diminutive title - it is in fact a substantial, often dark work which could easily be called a symphony. I highly recommend this excellent recording by James Judd and the NZSO, where it's coupled with the gorgeous (and very different) Der Seejungfrau:

[asin]B002AT46AO[/asin]

[vandermolen]

Just wanted to bring attention to Zemlinsky's wonderful Sinfonietta, which I discovered today. Written near the end of the composer's life in 1934, it exhibits a more acerbic (though hardly unapproachable) style than his earlier works. Stylistically, it reminded me in places of Weill's equally great Symphony no. 2, written in the same year. Zemlinsky did this work no favors by giving it such a diminutive title - it is in fact a substantial, often dark work which could easily be called a symphony. I highly recommend this excellent recording by James Judd and the NZSO, where it's coupled with the gorgeous (and very different) Der Seejungfrau:

[asin]B002AT46AO[/asin]

Right! I have this on the same Naxos CD but never listened to it as I'm always listening to 'The Mermaid'. So, thanks for alerting us to this work Kyle.

[Mirror Image]

Zemlinsky is one of those composers I've tried to appreciate, I mean really try, but I always seem to come away from his music thinking I should've been listening to someone else instead. Die Seejungfrau is nice enough work, but not very evocative or compelling in any way. The Sinfonietta just doesn't sound too interesting in general. He kind of a represents the dying embers of German/Austrian Late-Romanticism and I'm afraid his predecessors did it better than he did. Just give me Mahler or someone of a completely different style like Schoenberg or Hindemith (if we're talking about Germanic composers).

[Mahlerian]

Zemlinsky is one of those composers I've tried to appreciate, I mean really try, but I always seem to come away from his music thinking I should've been listening to someone else instead. Die Seejungfrau is nice enough work, but not very evocative or compelling in any way. The Sinfonietta just doesn't sound too interesting in general. He kind of a represents the dying embers or German/Austrian Late-Romanticism and I'm afraid his predecessors did it better than he did. Just give me Mahler or someone of a completely different style like Schoenberg or Hindemith (if we're talking about Germanic composers).

Strange, I really don't hear any significant elements of Mahler in the Sinfonietta, which the Naxos liner notes claim fuses elements of Mahler with elements of Stravinsky and Hindemith.  To me, it sounds closer to Prokofiev, especially Soviet-era Prokofiev, though the orchestration is noticeably different.

[Mirror Image]

Strange, I really don't hear any significant elements of Mahler in the Sinfonietta, which the Naxos liner notes claim fuses elements of Mahler with elements of Stravinsky and Hindemith.  To me, it sounds closer to Prokofiev, especially Soviet-era Prokofiev, though the orchestration is noticeably different.

I didn't say the Sinfonietta had any elements of Mahler in it. I was referring to Zemlinsky's style in general or from what I have heard (most of his orchestral music and very little of his lieder, operas, or chamber music). Regardless of all of this, I'm still rather unimpressed with what I've heard of his music.

[Baron Scarpia]

I've had the Conlon CD with Seejungfrau and the Sinfonietta since shortly after they came out, and probably haven't listened to the Sinfonietta since then. But after the mentions here I fished it out, and found myself enjoying the Sinfonietta a great deal. The first movement was immediately interesting, being mostly constructed out of a pair of contrasting motifs, one ascending, the other descending. Just based on a first listen, it seemed to have an unusual structure, with the return of the opening material saved for a sort of coda. But the real highlight of the work was the second movement, where there were two very striking climaxes, one just before the midway point in the movement and one that comes soon after. Zemlinsky created something really unique there. The finale struck me as a well executed conclusion with somewhat sarcastic high spirits. Music of its age, but with something unique, I'd say, especially the striking middle movement.

[asin]B000002RVM[/asin]

I liked Conlon's performance, but I felt that the audio engineering didn't really capture the opulence of the orchestration. It was a bit congested and lacking in ambience. I will be looking for an alternate recording, I notice there are several choices in the catalog.

[Roasted Swan]

I liked Conlon's performance, but I felt that the audio engineering didn't really capture the opulence of the orchestration. It was a bit congested and lacking in ambience. I will be looking for an alternate recording, I notice there are several choices in the catalog.

The Conlon/Zemlinsky series discs were all blighted to some degree by their engineering.  Somehow they gave the music an element of circumspection and caution that it doesn't have.  I enjoyed the Anthony Beaumont/Czech PO recording of the Sinfonietta.  That orchestra still retain a sound that for me seems wholly appropriate for this music.  Beaumont's biography of Zemlinsky is well worth a read too.

[Jo498]

I have the Conlon in a twofer; they were among the first available recordings, I think. I do not remember these works so well and the sound was kind of dull and distant. While I am not sufficiently familiar with enough of his works, I have the impression that, the Lyric symphony aside, Zemlinsky best is in his operas and string quartets, not the orchestral music.

[SurprisedByBeauty]

Zemlinsky, Sinfonietta, Conlon, Köln.


http://a-fwd.to/3rs76In

A piece that made a big impression, particularly the middle movement. I think Conlon did fine work, but the audio isn't entirely satisfying to me. Looking for alternatives.  More detailed impressions on the Zemlinsky thread.

Finding an alternative is full of potential pitfalls. There is an Ondine recording, but the fine print says it is an arrangement for chamber orchestra, there is a Chandos recording, and the fine print says it is a re-release of a Nimbus recording. (Can anything be worse?). So I am down to Dausgaard on another Chandos recording and the Naxos recording that has been mentioned above. Difficult decisions!

Mermaids I've met:

http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2006/07/dip-your-ears-no-67.html

If you are referring to the Storgards recordings with the Helsinki Phil of the Mermaid, that is not arranged for chamber orchestra -- the Sinfonietta on the same disc is. What's unique about the Mermaid here*, is that this is the new critical edition by Beaumont which restores some excised passages and corrects previous mistakes made in they copying of the score. It's a very fine, sumptuous performances; perhaps a touch genteel.

In the above-linked review I state that Dausgaard is my preferred choice, but this demands clarification (given in said review): Dausgaard I (Chandos), that is. He went on to re-record it on Dacapo with a splendid coupling... and live... but that didn't jump out at me as being outright better than the version before... just excellent, also. In any case OOP.

You mention that Beaumont is licensed from Nimbus. Are you sure? The same sources DID record Zemlinsky that was then brought out on Nimbus -- but not, I think, these. In any case, if so, I believe it'd be a case of these recordings being taken from the same source but not made by Nimbus. I haven't got my copy (Chandos) around to see if that sheds any light on it. I think it's a v. good, brawny recording, if not necessarily or obviously topping either of Dausgaard's efforts.

I've also always liked Conlon, who introduced me to much of Zemlinksy by way of his records. They are held back by the sonics, but still hold a special place in my heart. This leaves Chailly/Berlin, the earliest (I think) of the bunch... and still perhaps the most exciting. (It's also available-ish as part of the "Entartete Musik" series and on a Zemlinsky/Chailly Twofer.) I don't know Judd's recording (Naxos), nor Vaclav Neumann (?)'s (Wergo). I dismiss Cornelius Meister (CPO) out of hand. Ah, right, I also have Emmanuel Krivine (Alpha*), but that's not rising to the level of the others discussed above.

Dausgaard I, Chandos	Storgards, Ondine	Beaumont, Chandos
Dausgaard II, Dacapo	Chailly, Decca	Conlon, EMI

* See Carmina Burana's comment below: Storgards was the first to record that version; Krivine also did. Just listened to Storgards (and then Chailly) again... it's still annoyingly underwhelming. So perhaps Krivine really does shine, between the two of them.

[Roasted Swan]

Mermaids I've met:

http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2006/07/dip-your-ears-no-67.html

If you are referring to the Storgards recordings with the Helsinki Phil of the Mermaid, that is not arranged for chamber orchestra -- the Sinfonietta on the same piece is. What's unique about the Mermaid here, is that this is the new critical edition by Beaumont which restores some excised passages and corrects previous mistakes made in they copying of the score. It's a very fine, sumptuous performances; perhaps a touch genteel.

You mention that Beaumont is licensed from Nimbus. Are you sure? The same sources DID record Zemlinsky that was then brought out on Nimbus -- but not, I think, these. In any case, if so, I believe it'd be a case of these recordings being taken from the same source but not made by Nimbus. I haven't got my copy (Chandos) around to see if that sheds any light on it. I think it's a v. good, brawny recording, if not necessarily or obviously topping either of Dausgaard's efforts.

The Storgards is not unique in its use of the critical edition.  It was the first recording to do so but Krivine uses it too.  And to my ear more effectively than Storgards.  But for what it is worth I'm not so certain of the value of that edition.  It creates a version of the work that Zemlinsky never sanctioned and never heard - and it does not have the merit of being "complete first thoughts" since some passages of the original work are still missing and have had to be conjecturally in-filled.  Curiously Beaumont in his biography makes the case for NOT needing a critical edition of the the Mermaid even though he mentions the stuck together and missing pages but then a few years later DID edit just such an edition. 

The "Nimbus" recording was engineered in the Rudolfinum with a Czech team and Dominic Fyfe as producer.  I assume in effect this was then licenced to Nimbus and/or later Chandos.

[Cato]

Concerning this CD:

[asin]B00000E399[/asin]


I obtained the Chailly a long time ago, possibly when it was first released.  It was played on the local classical radio station, and so...   YES!  I had to get that!

I thought it was, and remains, a fine recording: I will need to re-listen to the Conlon: I do not recall the sound being corseted, but...

[Jo498]

I read in some booklet or guide that the "Mermaid" was unlucky since its premiere because this was together with Schönberg's "Pelleas & Melisande" and the latter was more popular with the audience right from the start.

[Baron Scarpia]

Mermaids I've met:

http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2006/07/dip-your-ears-no-67.html

If you are referring to the Storgards recordings with the Helsinki Phil of the Mermaid, that is not arranged for chamber orchestra -- the Sinfonietta on the same disc is. What's unique about the Mermaid here*, is that this is the new critical edition by Beaumont which restores some excised passages and corrects previous mistakes made in they copying of the score. It's a very fine, sumptuous performances; perhaps a touch genteel.

In the above-linked review I state that Dausgaard is my preferred choice, but this demands clarification (given in said review): Dausgaard I (Chandos), that is. He went on to re-record it on Dacapo with a splendid coupling... and live... but that didn't jump out at me as being outright better than the version before... just excellent, also. In any case OOP.

You mention that Beaumont is licensed from Nimbus. Are you sure? The same sources DID record Zemlinsky that was then brought out on Nimbus -- but not, I think, these. In any case, if so, I believe it'd be a case of these recordings being taken from the same source but not made by Nimbus. I haven't got my copy (Chandos) around to see if that sheds any light on it. I think it's a v. good, brawny recording, if not necessarily or obviously topping either of Dausgaard's efforts.

I've also always liked Conlon, who introduced me to much of Zemlinksy by way of his records. They are held back by the sonics, but still hold a special place in my heart. This leaves Chailly/Berlin, the earliest (I think) of the bunch... and still perhaps the most exciting. (It's also available-ish as part of the "Entartete Musik" series and on a Zemlinsky/Chailly Twofer.) I don't know Judd's recording (Naxos), nor Vaclav Neumann (?)'s (Wergo). I dismiss Cornelius Meister (CPO) out of hand. Ah, right, I also have Emmanuel Krivine (Alpha*), but that's not rising to the level of the others discussed above.

Dausgaard I, Chandos	Storgards, Ondine	Beaumont, Chandos
Dausgaard II, Dacapo	Chailly, Decca	Conlon, EMI

* See Carmina Burana's comment below: Storgards was the first to record that version; Krivine also did. Just listened to Storgards (and then Chailly) again... it's still annoyingly underwhelming. So perhaps Krivine really does shine, between the two of them.

Thanks for your comments. It's actually the Sinfonietta rather than the Mermaid that I'm interested in (I have Chailly's mermaid and am happy with it) but that Beaumont Mermaid sounds attractive. The Chandos disc with the Beaumont Sinfonietta does specify licensed from Nimbus on the back cover, and it is my policy not to touch anything by Nimbus with a 10 foot pole.



I think I will go with the Daussgaard Sinfonietta on Chandos (I've been happy with his work in the past) although his timings are a lot shorter than Conlon and I'm not sure that is good.  Then I will look for the two symphonies (since I am also limited to the Conlon in those works).

I can't put my finger on what is wrong with the Conlon recordings, precisely. With a good recording (particularly of orchestra) my experience is if you listen too softly it doesn't sound convincing and as you turn up the volume, at some point it blooms, and if you turn it up to far it its too loud. Those recordings are too loud before they bloom, in my case. A lack of "air," as if each instrument is playing into its own little microphone but there is no sound of the space. It was recorded during a low-point of EMI engineering. The recordings they made in the 60's sounded a lot better.

[SurprisedByBeauty]

Thanks for your comments. It's actually the Sinfonietta rather than the Mermaid that I'm interested in (I have Chailly's mermaid and am happy with it) but that Beaumont Mermaid sounds attractive. The Chandos disc with the Beaumont Sinfonietta does specify licensed from Nimbus on the back cover, and it is my policy not to touch anything by Nimbus with a 10 foot pole.

Oops... All that, and I got the piece wrong, that you were interested in.

Still, if I may correct you: The Chandos does NOT state: Licensed from Nimbus. It says: Previously released on Nimbus. It's not a Nimbus production... so your trepidations (which I share, if not to that degree) are perhaps not merited.

[Mahlerian]

I read in some booklet or guide that the "Mermaid" was unlucky since its premiere because this was together with Schönberg's "Pelleas & Melisande" and the latter was more popular with the audience right from the start.

Interesting.  I can't evaluate that statement without more knowledge of how audiences reacted to both pieces.  When I listened to the Sinfonietta last night, I was struck by what sounded like a reminiscence of Schoenberg's Pelleas, which was confirmed by this talk by Beaumont:
https://www.youtube.com/v/-JrAiNzqr_A

[Baron Scarpia]

Oops... All that, and I got the piece wrong, that you were interested in.

Still, if I may correct you: The Chandos does NOT state: Licensed from Nimbus. It says: Previously released on Nimbus. It's not a Nimbus production... so your trepidations (which I share, if not to that degree) are perhaps not merited.

Your comments were still interesting and helpful.

Ok, I have to go to the Chandos web site and see if I can find the name of the record producer and engineer to confirm no Nimbus taint.

[Jo498]

I cannot find more info on the audience reponse right now either, only confirm that both pieces were indeed played for the first time in one concert on January 25th 1906.

[Mahlerian]

I cannot find more info on the audience reponse right now either, only confirm that both pieces were indeed played for the first time in one concert on January 25th 1906.

Thanks for trying, at least.  If you or anyone else hasn't seen it yet, the talk I linked to is quite enjoyable and gives a quick overview of Zemlinsky's life and work.

I'm ambivalent about a lot of what I've heard of his music, personally, but found the string quartets quite enjoyable when I heard them.

[Baron Scarpia]

Oops... All that, and I got the piece wrong, that you were interested in.

Still, if I may correct you: The Chandos does NOT state: Licensed from Nimbus. It says: Previously released on Nimbus. It's not a Nimbus production... so your trepidations (which I share, if not to that degree) are perhaps not merited.

According to the Chandos web site, only one track is produced by Ralph Couzens (the Chandos guy). The rest is produced by Dominic Fyfe. Dominic's name is associate with Nimbus recordings.   

https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%2010204