Zemlinsky: A Florentine Tragedy & Six Maesterlinck Songs

Featuring

Vladimir Jurowski
Sergei Skorokhodov
Heike Wessels
Albert Dohmen
Petra Lang
London Philharmonic Orchestra

Alexander von Zemlinsky

Did you know?

1/7

Compositional Technique

Zemlinsky's A Florentine Tragedy uses orchestral music to depict lovemaking in its prelude, mirroring the lavish textures and colors of Viennese contemporary Gustav Klimt.

Performer Biography

Petra Lang, the mezzo-soprano performing the Six Maeterlinck Songs, has won numerous awards, including two Grammys for her role as Cassandre in Berlioz's Les Troyens.

Composer Biography

Alexander Zemlinsky's opera A Florentine Tragedy and his Six Maeterlinck Songs reflect his grief over losing Alma Schindler, who chose to marry Gustav Mahler instead of him.

Critical Reception

A Florentine Tragedy did not achieve the success Zemlinsky hoped for, with conductor Otto Klemperer noting it was 'too late' by its 1917 premiere due to the public's diminished taste for 'titillating horrors' during wartime.

Composer Biography

Zemlinsky intentionally altered the last line of A Florentine Tragedy to reflect Alma Schindler's infidelity with Walter Gropius, changing 'so beautiful' to 'so weak'.

Composition History

Alexander Zemlinsky's opera, A Florentine Tragedy, was influenced by the scandalous success of Richard Strauss's opera Salome, which awakened new interest in Oscar Wilde's works.

Performer Biography

Sergey Skorokhodov, the tenor singing Guido Bardi on this album, made his debut at the Mariinsky Theatre in 1999 in the same role in Zemlinsky's A Florentine Tragedy.