Search - Zemlinsky, Weikert, Zurich Opera House :: Kleider Machen Leute

Zemlinsky has an off day....

Eric D. Anderson | South Bend, IN United States | 08/21/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Even great geniuses sometimes come across material that isn't suited to their talent. I had great expectations when I bought this set. Zemlinsky alway suprises me with his brilliance and beauty. But, frankly, I don't think he was cut out for comedy. His librettist, Leo Feld, had a thing for making fun of average folks. The same theme crops up in "Der Traumgorge", but only in a few scenes--pebbles on a chain of shining diamonds. But in "Kleider machen leute", this theme is at the heart of the opera, and it's clear that Zemlinsky's heart isn't in it. He comes life in the second act when he's describing the love of Strapinsky and Nettchen. Then, finally, we see the passion and yearning we're used to in Zemlinsky. But it's a case of too little too late.Not that the score isn't full of great ideas and complex, well thought out music--Zemlinsky was a conscientious artist. But the music is wildly dense and dissonant for satire. All this isn't helped by the fact that Zemlinsky cut and revised the score in the 1920s, adding passages of even greater dissonance."Der Traumgorge" before it, and "Eine Florentinische Tragodie" and "Der Zwerg" after it are among the great operatic works of the 20th century, but with "Kleider machen leute" Zemlinsky had a bit of an off day."