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Friday, December 14, 2018

Franz Schreker - The Birthday of the Infanta Suite; etc. (JoAnn Falletta)


Information

Composer: Franz Schreker
  • (01) Vorspiel zu einem Drama
  • (02) Der Geburtstag der Infantin - Suite
  • (12) Romantische Suite, Op. 14

Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin
JoAnn Falletta, conductor

Date: 2018
Label: Naxos
https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.573821

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Review

ARTISTIC QUALITY: 9 / SOUND QUALITY: 9

JoAnn Falletta turns in another fine recording of less than familiar repertoire. Prelude to a Drama, an expanded version of the overture to the opera Die Gezeichneten, has received many recordings to date, but none as cogent and exciting as this one. Falletta encourages her players to cut through the composer’s dreamy, impressionist timbral fog in pursuit of the main melodic thread, with powerful results. Yes, the music remains rather shapeless, but it’s so beautiful from moment to moment that in a smart performance we don’t care, and this is a very smart performance.

The suite from the pantomime The Birthday of the Infanta is also full of color and character, rising to a surprisingly powerful and affecting climax in its last couple of sections. Dating from 1923, this is vintage Schreker: lush, decadent, but not lacking in rhythmic backbone. The early Romantic Suite, on the other hand, reveals the composer’s basically conservative roots, even as it aspires to something richer and more daring. Both works receive performances as impressive as that of the Prelude to a Drama–that is, as good or better as any in the catalog, and the engineering is excellent. Try this. You won’t be sorry.

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday

More reviews:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2018/Dec/Schreker_Infanta_8573821.htm
http://www.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_cd_review.php?id=15944
https://www.naxos.com/reviews/reviewslist.asp?catalogueid=8.573821&languageid=EN
https://www.amazon.com/Schreker-Berlin-Radio-Symphony-Orchestra/dp/B07GVXD633

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Franz Schreker (23 March 1878 – 21 March 1934) was an Austrian composer, conductor, teacher and administrator. Although Schreker was influenced by composers such as Richard Strauss and Richard Wagner, his mature style shows a highly individual harmonic language. Schreker's fame and influence were at their peak during the early years of the Weimar Republic when he was the most performed living opera composer after Richard Strauss. After decades in obscurity, Schreker has begun to enjoy a considerable revival in reputation in the German-speaking world and in the United States.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Schreker

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JoAnn Falletta (born February 27, 1954 in New York) is an American conductor. She is best known as music directors of the Virginia Symphony (since 1991) and Buffalo Philharmonic orchestras (since 1999). She has also served as music director of the Long Beach Symphony and of the Women's Philharmonic Orchestra (San Francisco). Falletta has recorded over 70 albums. In 2011 she was appointed artistic director of the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra. Outside of the USA, Falletta was the 12th principal conductor of the Ulster Orchestra (2011-2014), being its first American and first female conductor.

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