At the end of the alphabet: Zemlinsky

Started by bhodges, October 16, 2007, 02:15:43 PM

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J.Z. Herrenberg

Quote from: vandermolen on November 02, 2008, 01:22:35 AM
Zemlinsky's Lyric Symphony is a great work, I especially love the opening. It is one of those works I've heard on the radio, after it had started, from time to time and not been able to place it, so that I've waited for the announcement at the end to satisfy my curiosity. Respighi is another composer like this. I remember listening to his Concerto Gregoriano on the radio and thinking that it must be by Finzi  ::)

My favourite moments in the Lyric Symphony are the wistful baritone solos (which Fischer-Dieskau sings marvellously), 'Du bist die Abendwolke' and the one at the end with the refrain 'Du bist mein eigen' or words to that effect...
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. -- Plato

Kullervo

Quote from: Pierre on November 01, 2008, 06:42:26 PM
Very kind of you to offer - I'm sure I've got the disc somewhere (probably in one of several boxes I still haven't unpacked/sorted). It would give me a lot of pleasure to hear it again, though, if you have a spare moment.
Quote from: Jezetha on November 02, 2008, 01:58:35 AM
Erm... seconded (and don't worry - Nørgård will be listened to in due course!)

Here you go!

http://rapidshare.com/files/160152136/Zemlinsky.zip.html

J.Z. Herrenberg

Quote from: Corey on November 02, 2008, 08:00:43 PM
Here you go!

http://rapidshare.com/files/160152136/Zemlinsky.zip.html

Excellent! Thank you, Corey! (And by the way - to download this properly, cut off the html extension and hey presto!)
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. -- Plato

vandermolen

Quote from: bhodges on October 16, 2007, 02:15:43 PM
This week the New York Philharmonic is doing a concert version of Alexander von Zemlinsky's one-act opera, A Florentine Tragedy (1915-16), with James Conlon conducting and an excellent cast, including Anthony Dean Griffey (who will sing the title role in Peter Grimes at the Met next spring).  The libretto is based on Max Meyerfeld's translation of a play by Oscar Wilde.  I have the Chailly recording, which I like but haven't listened to enough to really get to know the piece.

Other fans of this composer?  I know he has been discussed briefly elsewhere, but didn't find a thread.  Other favorites from his output are Die Seejungfrau (The Mermaid) (1902-03), a lush tone poem, and the Lyric Symphony (1922-23), a gorgeous work for soprano, baritone and orchestra with texts by Rabindranath Tagore.

Other fans, favorite works? 

--Bruce

Having just discovered 'The Mermaid' I am now a fan.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

bhodges

Quote from: vandermolen on December 09, 2008, 11:03:55 AM
Having just discovered 'The Mermaid' I am now a fan.

Oh great!  It's marvelous, isn't it!  Which recording?  (Or did you get lucky and hear it live?)

--Bruce

Dundonnell

I much prefer 'Die Seejungfrau' ;D ;D

It justs sounds so much more......? German! ;D :)

bhodges

Quote from: Dundonnell on December 09, 2008, 11:08:29 AM
I much prefer 'Die Seejungfrau' ;D ;D

It justs sounds so much more......? German! ;D :)

;D

--Bruce

vandermolen

Quote from: bhodges on December 09, 2008, 11:06:11 AM
Oh great!  It's marvelous, isn't it!  Which recording?  (Or did you get lucky and hear it live?)

--Bruce

Conlon on EMI. In a box set I bought for £7 in the HMV sale yesterday (3 CDs). A great discovery.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

vandermolen

Die Seejungfrau has definitely been one of the discoveries of the year for me.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

jwinter

This is the only Zemlinsky I've heard; quite nice, and certainly a bargain for an introduction.  I agree that he fits stylistically with Strauss, Mahler, & Brahms -- I may need to check out more from this composer...

The man that hath no music in himself,
Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds,
Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils.
The motions of his spirit are dull as night,
And his affections dark as Erebus.
Let no such man be trusted.

-- William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

Bulldog

Quote from: jwinter on December 16, 2008, 12:33:25 PM
This is the only Zemlinsky I've heard; quite nice, and certainly a bargain for an introduction.  I agree that he fits stylistically with Strauss, Mahler, & Brahms -- I may need to check out more from this composer...


That's a good plan, because those two symphonies are early Zemlinsky.

Subotnick

Quote from: donwyn on October 18, 2007, 06:26:03 PM
This is quite a nice disc of the second quartet, Gurn. Really finds the heart of Zemlinsky:







I almost bought this disc for the Debussy a week or two ago. Perhaps I should and it could serve as my introduction to Zemlinsky  :)

ChamberNut

#52
Yesterday, on the national radio station in Canada (the French speaking one), was an electrifying live performance of I thought....the final movements of a Shostakovich string quartet.  I was mistaken, it wasn't Shostakovich, but Zemlinsky's String Quartet No. 4

Anyway, I now want Zemlinsky's string quartets.  ;D

Ahh, it was the Quatuor Molinari performing.  :)

Bulldog

Quote from: ChamberNut on May 29, 2009, 05:47:10 PM
Anyway, I now want Zemlinsky's string quartets.  ;D


If you want all four, I'd recommend the Artis Qt. Wien on Nimbus - 2 single CDs.

ChamberNut

Quote from: Bulldog on May 29, 2009, 06:18:18 PM
If you want all four, I'd recommend the Artis Qt. Wien on Nimbus - 2 single CDs.

Thanks Don.  :) I was checking out an Artis Qt. recording, but looked like it had only three of them.

snyprrr

I have both Artis/Nimbus. All 4 are there, plus a quartet by Joanna Muller-something (in Eb)?

No.2 is thee SQ after Schoenberg 1-2, and also related to them by all their personal drama (watch out f#minor!). This is a dense 40min. SQ, packed and stacked.

No.3, from the 20s, seems quite experimental, include a Theme and Variations that Zemlinsky used to poke fun at Shoenberg's theories (the "theme" is the most "not there" collection of notes I've ever heard!). Just like in Mozart, I assume, Zemlinsky has totally incorporated musical put downs... and it is this part of Zemlinsky I'm not that fond of. These last two SQs can sometimes come across perhaps, to me, a bit obnoxious in their humor, like a bitter Jewish Shosty. Either way, No.3 is relatively short, condensed to the gills, and packs an interesting psychology.

No.4 was written after the death of Berg, and may be Zemlinsky's answer to Berg's Lyric Suite. Yes, it ends with a quadruple fugue.

I find I respect and listen to these SQs more than I "like" them. 3-4 are good antidotes for Schoenberg's 3-4, though!

Senta

Thread bump for new Lyric Symphony recording!  :)



I was at the concerts where this was recorded in Nov. 2007 so have been waiting for it to come out for a while.  ;) Live I was very impressed by the performance, and on disc it proved to be as just good as I remembered. All-around this is an excellent new recording of this piece - everything about it is well-judged, balances, tempi, crescendi, and it is not without fire and dramatic sweep. The first movement is particularly exquisite, displaying a formidable and weighty brass section which shines through the piece. I liked Twyla Robinson very much here, but really loved Roman Trekel. He has a marvelous, mellifluous timbre in all of his range and just sings beautifully, in strong voice throughout.

Naxos did a great job I feel in realistically capturing the orchestra while (mostly) erasing Jones Hall's many quirks - the sound does retain a characteristic dryness though. The only problem they did have is with some of the balances which are a tad off when the singers are singing, such as in Robinson's quieter songs, it sounds as if all of a sudden the orchestra were further away from the singers. Odd, as live it was fine.

Mentioning the coupling here - the Berg Lyric Suite, it gets a nice and energetic performance, the strings achieving fine chamber-music like playing. It's fun to hear this together with the Zemlinsky due to their shared link. I wished some inner lines were held in sharper relief, but like the interpretation a lot.

All in all, two strong performances and a recommended CD, especially for the price. May write more later - am enjoying dragging out my other recordings of the Zemlinsky...

vandermolen

Thread bump for this fine new release too. 'The Mermaid' has one of the most hauntingly atmospheric openings of any work I know. I wish that the first two minutes would go on and on!

Nice cover picture too:

"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Mirror Image

The last post on this thread was almost three years ago? ??? WTF? Anyway, I admired Zemlinsky early on (the Conlon recordings on EMI) and I've recently bought an orchestral recording with Thomas Dausgaard conducting the Danish National Symphony Orchestra on Chandos. I plan on revisiting the Colon recordings that I own in addition to this Dausgaard recording. He's such an underrated composer IMHO.

snyprrr

Quote from: Mirror Image on May 18, 2012, 03:54:32 PM
The last post on this thread was almost three years ago? ??? WTF? Anyway, I admired Zemlinsky early on (the Conlon recordings on EMI) and I've recently bought an orchestral recording with Thomas Dausgaard conducting the Danish National Symphony Orchestra on Chandos. I plan on revisiting the Colon recordings that I own in addition to this Dausgaard recording. He's such an underrated composer IMHO.

Yea, that's one of my original Posts,... eeee :-\mmm :-X,... uh, thanks for ;D...

I still recommend the SQs. I didn't mention No.1, which, haha, apparently I've, er, matured a bit since then and listened to the most Brahmsian earlier work, but is in the same league as the Clarinet Trio, finely wrought, and very genial here; I return to now more this and No.2, the 'Schoenberg scandal' quartet, rather than to the more modernistic 3-4, which are still a good tonic against the Schoenberg 3-4.