Franz Schreker - Orchestral Works Vol. 2 (Vassily Sinaisky)

Information

Composer: Franz Schreker

1. Romantic Suite, Op. 14: I. Idylle. Andante
2. Romantic Suite, Op. 14: II. Scherzo. Prestissimo - Trio (listesso Tempo)
3. Romantic Suite, Op. 14: III. Intermezzo. In sanfter Bewegung
4. Romantic Suite, Op. 14: IV. Tanz. Allegro vivace (etwas derb)
5. 5 Gesänge, for voice & orchestra: 1. Ich frag' nach dir jedwede Morgensonne
6. 5 Gesänge, for voice & orchestra: 2. Dies aber kann mein Sehnen nimmer fassen
7. 5 Gesänge, for voice & orchestra: 3. Die Dunkelheit sinkt schwer wie Blei
8. 5 Gesänge, for voice & orchestra: 4. Sie sind so schön die milden, sonnenreichen
9. 5 Gesänge, for voice & orchestra: 5. Einst gibt ein Tag mir alles Glück zu eigen
10. Das Spielwerk und die Prinzessin, opera: Prelude
11. Vorspiel zu einer großen Oper

Katarina Karneus (5-9)
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Vassily Sinaisky, conductor

Date: 2001
Label: Chandos
https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%209951

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Review

Schreker was at his best in opera‚ but his orchestral and other vocal works merit exploration. They share the stylistic middle ground between Strauss and Schoenberg with the likes of Pfitzner‚ Zemlinsky – even Siegfried Wagner – and the second disc in Chandos’s Schreker survey covers a lot of ground‚ from what is virtually a student exercise‚ written in the early years of the 20th century‚ to a substantial composition from 1933‚ near the end of Schreker’s life.

It’s a brave composer who sets a text which speaks of ‘dead‚ grey monotony’‚ and these works are not exactly notable for strong contrasts of pace and atmosphere. The Five Songs‚ written for voice and piano in 1909 and orchestrated in 1922‚ have little lightness to balance the shade‚ but they are neither monotonous nor dead‚ and Katarina Karnéus shines in music which responds to dark emotions with exemplary restraint. The two mature orchestral Preludes‚ to the opera Das Spielwerk and to an unnamed large­scale opera‚ are a good deal more robust and emphatic. The latter is the largest and most ambitious‚ and although it begins promisingly‚ with brisk tempos and an almost Szymanowski­esque exoticism‚ it moves decisively into hyper­ romantic agonising long before the end.

Such a mood is more acceptable in the Romantic Suite‚ since Schreker was only 25 when he completed it‚ in 1903. This is one of those large­scale late­Romantic works which has the proportions of a symphony without the matching intensity of argument. Even so‚ there is a deft scherzo in which it’s interesting to hear a large orchestra managing to be light on its feet‚ and the finale has sufficient sweep and sharpness of thematic profile to provide a rousing conclusion.

Anyone who has the first volume of the Chandos Schreker series (6/00) will know what to expect from this one: the qualities of performance and recording remain high.

-- Gramophone

More reviews:
ClassicsToday  ARTISTIC QUALITY: 9 / SOUND QUALITY: 9
BBC Music Magazine  PERFORMANCE: ***** / SOUND: *****
http://www.amazon.com/Schreker-Orchestral-Vorspiel-Spielwerk-Romantic/dp/B00005OBRY

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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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Vassily Sinaisky (born April 20, 1947 in Abez, Komi Republic) is a Russian conductor and pianist. He studied conducting with Ilya Musin at the Leningrad Conservatory and began his career as assistant to Kirill Kondrashin at the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1973, he won the Gold Medal at the Karajan Competition in Berlin. Sinaisky lead the Latvian National Symphony (1976-1989), the Moscow Philharmonic (1991-1996) and the Malmö Symphony (2007-2011). He was Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic (1996-2012) and made several recordings with them for Chandos.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vassily_Sinaisky

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