Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln
W. Berry (bass) F. Wunderlich (tenor), A. Dermota (tenor)
I. Malaniuk (alto), H Güden (soprano)
A. Forer (organ)
Singverein der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde Wien
Wiener Philarmoniker
Dimitri Mitropoulos
Live recording in Salzburg, 1959, Archipel
"Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln" was one of the crowning achievement in Schmidt's musical path, and surely one of the greatest and powerful 20th century oratorios.
Over two year (from 1935 to 1937, with premiere only one year later, but many hints of the music are to be found in earlier works) of great labour and meticulous selection and refining of texts, together with masterful command of the orchestral and choral forces (he was for some time a Bruckner's pupil) led to the final form of this "opera", that seems to (consciously) foretell, and warn of, what will follow within some years.
A stellar cast (Dermota took part in the premiere) conducted with passion and great precision by Mitrpoulos, let the listener's experience reach the highest peaks of dramatic tension.
FLACs & Cover (texts are not included in this edition, but can be easily found on the Emi Classical page, related to the Welser-Möst version)
P.S. There's coupled here, as a bonus, another Schmidt's work, "Variationen uber ein Husarenlied", conducted by Hans Knappertsbusch
Over two year (from 1935 to 1937, with premiere only one year later, but many hints of the music are to be found in earlier works) of great labour and meticulous selection and refining of texts, together with masterful command of the orchestral and choral forces (he was for some time a Bruckner's pupil) led to the final form of this "opera", that seems to (consciously) foretell, and warn of, what will follow within some years.
A stellar cast (Dermota took part in the premiere) conducted with passion and great precision by Mitrpoulos, let the listener's experience reach the highest peaks of dramatic tension.
FLACs & Cover (texts are not included in this edition, but can be easily found on the Emi Classical page, related to the Welser-Möst version)
P.S. There's coupled here, as a bonus, another Schmidt's work, "Variationen uber ein Husarenlied", conducted by Hans Knappertsbusch
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