Sinfonietta, Op. 23 · Six Songs, Op. 13 „Maeterlinck-Songs“ Der König Kandaules PETRA LANG · PETER LORENZ ORF VIENNA RADIO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA · SUSANNA MÄLKKI · GERD ALBRECHT
C5377
PC: 21
UPC: 845221053776
,Just heard your wonderful Symfonietta: hope it is the beginning of your american success’,wrote Arnold Schönberg to Zemlinsky. But Zemlinsky suffert already after a stroke and died some days later on, lonely in New York. In his Sinfonietta op. 24 (1934) he used again a short theme from the last song of his Maeterlinck-Songs, Op. 13 (1913): „Wohin gehst Du?“ (Where are you going?) It’s alredy a theme of ,self-doubts‘ and ‚Farewell’ when Zemlinsky noticed very carefully the more and more stronger restrictions against the Judaism in Vienna. The Maeterlinck-Songs are „the center of his productivity“ (Adorno), and abduct the listeners in a mystic world about life, evanescense and death.
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LEONARD BERNSTEIN: MASS
Vojtěch Dyk · Wiener Singakademie · Opernschule der Wiener Staatsoper · Company of Music ORF VIENNA RADIO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA · DENNIS RUSSELL DAVIES
C5370
PC: PC 22
UPC: 845221053707
Few people had comparable charisma to him, few like him could blur the borders between ‘serious’ classical music and ‘entertaining’ popular music and few apart from him could find access to people of all generations like Bernstein. Living together and love instead of antagonism and hatred permeate his entire life’s work in words and notes. Many of the attributes mentioned apply to MASS, premiered in 1971. For the understanding of this unusual work, it is crucial to note that it is not really seen as a mass composition, but in keeping with Bernstein’s intentions as ‘a theatrical piece with the title ‘MASS’. So, it is perhaps the most audacious interpretation of the liturgical contents up to then and since then. The responses to the premiere were thoroughly ambivalent, as, apart from enthusiasm, there was also rejection on the part of conservativeminded circles. And the clearly conveyed message of peace was partly rejected since it could be understood not least as an unmistakable indictment of the Vietnam War still in progress.
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DOHNÁNYI: DER SCHLEIER DER PIERRETTE / THE VEIL OF PIERRETTE Op. 18
Who would assume today that after its premiere in 1910 Ernst von Dohnányi’s dance pantomime spread like a wildfire over the stages of the world. The ‘Wedding Waltz’ from Der Schleier der Pierrettecould regularly be heard on musical request programmes on the radio, enjoying similar popularity to the waltz sequence from Richard Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier. Dohnanyi’s choice of the genre of pantomime was entirely in keeping with the spirit of the age that, following the large-scale, plot-laden ballets of late Romanticism, sought to find in pantomime a more intimate and more naturalistic form of expression. It may come as a surprise that the source for Dohnányi derived from none other than Arthur Schnitzler (1862–1931), one of the salient representatives of fin-de-siècle Austria. With this first complete recording again an important gap is closed in the knowledge of repertoire of this fascinating epochal time of musical history.
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WALTER BRAUNFELS
Variations on an Old French Song for two pianos, Op. 46 · Little Pieces for piano four hands, Op. 24 · Bagatelles, Op. 5 Tatjana Blome · Holger Groschopp
C5361
PC: 21
UPC: 845221053615
The renaissance of Walter Braunfels’ music is well under way. Interest in his work is picking up. As part of that happy development, it only makes sense that once recordings of Braunfels’ most public works had come out, it is now the turn of the less conspicuous works to shine. Starting right here, for example, with Braunfels’ compositions for piano, piano four hands, and two pianos. Although his solo and quadrodexterous piano compositions do not take primacy in his œuvre, they are an important aspect of the composer Braunfels who came, after all, from the piano.
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NIKOLAI KAPUSTIN: SAXOPHONE CHAMBER MUSIC
Elisaveta Blumina · Peter Bruns clair-obscur Saxophonquartett
C5369
PC: 21
UPC: 845221053691
Quintet for saxophone quartet and piano, Op. 89a (authorized version of piano quintet op. 89 by Christoph Enzel) Quartet for 4 saxophones, Op. 88a (authorized version of string quartet op. 88) Duo for alto saxophone and cello, Op. 99
At first glance, it might be surprising that a pianist born in the Soviet Republic of Ukraine, who went through the classical Russian school of pianists, should compose exclusively in the idiom of jazz. But jazz was more prevalent in the Soviet Union that might be supposed. Already in the 1930s, Oleg Ludstrem began appearing with his Big Band touring in the UDSSR. Later, Nikolai Kapustin worked for many years in this orchestra as a pianist and arranger. ‘What interests me most is the fusion between classical music and jazz, and between the classical form and the jazz idiom. Here, the classical portion has more weight for me. The jazz style is merely colour.’ (Nikolai Kapustin).
