Search - Zemlinsky, Marc, Hagegard :: Lyriche Symphonie / Sinfonische Gesange

The magnificence of Zemlinsky

chefdevergue | Spokane, WA United States | 08/21/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you know Zemlinsky only because he was Schoenberg's teacher --- or perhaps because he is the last composer in the alphabet --- the be prepared to be dazzled. The "Lyrische Symphonie" (written in 1922-1923) should be considered one the major works of the first half of the 20th century, even if you have never heard of it.



The comparisons between this work and Mahler's "Das Lied von der Erde" are unavoidable (even Zemlinsky himself saw the similarity), but this is in no way a simple Mahlerian clone. Zemlinsky's voice is distinct and original, and the poetry of Rabindranath Tagore (which works pretty well in a German translation) has its own brand of mysticism that sets it apart from the Das Lied's content. After completing this work, Zemlinsky began composing works in a much more sparse style --- this is basically the last of his big orchestral works that could be considered part of the German Romantic tradition.



If listening to Tagore in german is interesting, then listening to Langston Hughes is absolutely mind-boggling. Zemlinsky took some of the poems of Hughes and those of some of the other Harlem Renassaisance black poets and set them to music in 1929. Seven poems in approximately 18 minutes --- "Symphonisches Gesänge" is a no-nonsense work whose themes threw up red flags all over the place when the Nazis came to power 4 years later. Condemned as Degenerate Art by the Nazis, this work fell into a void for almost 50 years --- it was perfomed once in 1935, again in 1964, and was finally published in 1977.



Riccardo Chailly has championed Zemlinsky's music for quite some time now, and once again he gives an interpretation and performance that may help put Zemlinsky back on the musical map once and for all. Make no mistake about it --- Zemlinsky is one of the great composers of the 20th century, and these two pieces display entirely his mastery of his craft."

The best version of Zemlinsky's masterpiece

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 09/24/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Lyric Symphony is actually a song cycle for soprano and baritone on the same order of difficulty and sumptuousness as Maherl's Das Lied von der Erde. The closest it's ever gotten to a great performance, in my experience, is this recording. Both soloists do heroic work with their fiendishly tough parts, and the engineers give Chailly vivid, dramatic sound. There is also a budget Lyric Sym form Michael Gielen that I admire, but this one I consider indispensable."