Zemlinsky Lyric symphony

 Day 53

Zemlinsky Lyric Symphony

Elisabeth Söderström

Thomas Allen

BBC Symphony Orchestra

Michael Gilen

When I was at university Zemlinsky was little more than a name in the history books, but in the years since then there has been something of a discovery of his music and now most of his work is available on disc, often with more than one version. But this was my first proper encounter with his music.

Unfortunately I have to say that it is not something that I particularly warmed to. The idiom is somewhere between Mahler and Schoenberg and requires a huge orchestra as well as two strong singers. Personally I found the whole piece overheated and over complex. Every bar seemed to be full of orchestral effects and while each particularly one might have been interesting the overall effect became very tiring. Both parts, but particular the baritone solo, are in a high register and somewhat remorseless. Thomas Allen here did a really fine job of keeping the tone going in the sustained high register - it must have been a nightmare to sing.

The quieter moments, particularly the soprano solo towards the end offered some relief. But again I felt that Zemlinksy didn't quite create a memorable vocal line and I found it difficult to quite understand where he was going with the musical argument.

So nothing here has prompted me to explore more of the composer's works. No doubt my loss because his admirers, and there are many, speak highly of his output. But then the whole point of the this project is for me to encounter music that I have not heard before. It would be very odd if I had an enthusiastic response to everything that I heard.