Zemlinsky: Lyrische Symphonie - Dorow, Nimsgern, Ferro (1978)

Alexander von Zemlinsky

Lyrische Symphonie Op. 18

Dorothy Dorow

Siegmund Nimsgern

BBC Symphony Orchestra

Gabriele Ferro

Italia Fonit Cetra - CDC 70

"...durstig nach fernem Dingen"

Although not as central a figure as Schoenberg was in Vienna and in the history of music of the 20th Century, and certainly less important than his fellow Viennese master, Alexander Zemlinsky is nonetheless a very interesting composer. Better known for his short opera "Eine florentinische Tragödie" and his extensive chamber production, including 4 beautiful string quartets, his masterpiece still remains the powerful and exotic Lyric Symphony, composed at the beginning of the 20s, at the peak of his artistic maturity.

In many ways, this magnificent composition stems from the same cultural scenario which lead Mahler to explore the Chinese poetry for "Das Lied von der Erde" some 15 years earlier. Zemlinsky's "Thirst for far away Things" was fulfilled when he discovered Rabindranath Tagore's poem "The Gardener". The marvellous text inpired Zemlinsky to write a luxuriant and masterly jugendstil score, with amazingly rich and refined orchestration and many deeply moving sections, such as the wonderful call for peace in the last Lied, "Friede, mein Herz".

In this 1992 CD of an original April 1978 recording in London, one of Italy's lesser known, yet more interesting conductors of his generation, Gabriele Ferro conducts the splendid BBC Symphony and is joined by two intelligent artists, who were famous in the 70s and in the 80s among modern music acolytes, the English soprano Dorothy Dorow, and the German baritone Siegmund Nimsgern.

EAC APE, Lyrics & Covers