COMPOSERS: Zemlinsky
LABELS: Virgin
WORKS: Piano Works
PERFORMER: Siegfried Mauser (piano)
CATALOGUE NO: VC 5 45125 2 DDD
A disc devoted to Zemlinsky’s piano works must, of necessity, focus on his early career; unlike his operas, which articulate the transition from Wagner to Weill, Zemlinsky’s piano pieces date almost solely from his youth as a devout admirer of Brahms. Any impression of limitation, however, is dispelled by Siegfried Mauser’s performance of the Ballades (1892), based on poems by Goethe and Fontane, and the fin de siècle Fantasies on Poems by Richard Dehmel. A drawback, though, is the inclusion of the rather inconsequential Ländliche Tänze, which occupy the first 18 minutes. Deborah Calland
Zemlinsky: Piano Works
A disc devoted to Zemlinsky’s piano works must, of necessity, focus on his early career; unlike his operas, which articulate the transition from Wagner to Weill, Zemlinsky’s piano pieces date almost solely from his youth as a devout admirer of Brahms. Any impression of limitation, however, is dispelled by Siegfried Mauser’s performance of the Ballades (1892), based on poems by Goethe and Fontane, and the fin de siècle Fantasies on Poems by Richard Dehmel. A drawback, though, is the inclusion of the rather inconsequential Ländliche Tänze, which occupy the first 18 minutes. Deborah Calland
Published: January 20, 2012 at 3:13 pm