Search - Wilhelm Kienzl :: Wilhelm Kienzl: String Quartets 1-3

Yet Another "Resurrected" Central-European Artist...

Sébastien Melmoth | Hôtel d'Alsace, PARIS | 12/11/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

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Trust CPO label to bring us lost art of central European composers--some of it very worthy of remembrance indeed. Take Dr. Wilhelm Kienzl for example.



Like Bruckner, Kienzl (b.1857) was born and raised in "Upper" Austria--(i.e., the flat, low-lying area north of the Austrian Alps), near Linz--which is roughly in the center of a triangle formed by Munich in the west, Prague in the north, and Vienna in the east: the very heart of central Europe.



Unlike Bruckner, Mahler, and Schönberg, young Kienzl was not hindered by poverty nor anti-semitism. He was able to obtain an excellent education: at the age of 22 he took a Ph.D. from the University of Vienna--writing his dissertation on the Wagnerian topic of declamation in music.



Kienzl had a long career of conducting, teaching and concertizing, as he appeared as piano accompanist to vocalists in lieder recitals. He wrote a number of lieder and a couple of operas.



Wilhelm Kienzl: Don Quixote

Kienzl: Lieder



In 1880 he attempted to enlist Brahms' support--without success. (This in itself is not unusual as roughly 9 out of 10 applicants at Brahms' door met with curt rebuff; only a few like Dvorak, Fuchs, and Zemlinsky earned rough Old Papa's full endorsement. In Kienzl's case, Brahms may have suspected his Wagnerian-Brucknerian pedigree--although Kienzl was also a keen admirer of Brahms' mentor Schumann.)



Indeed, Kienzl's ethos may be described as a synthesis of Schumann and Wagner (perhaps including a dash of Schubert [!]), with later additions of Korngold.



Three String Quartets:



Op. 22 (1881) in bb-minor;

Op. 99 (1919) in c-minor;

Op. 113 (1928) in Eb-major.



The echt-Austrian Thomas Christian Ensemble [focused around the Vienna String Quartet] has recorded many rare and interesting discs on CPO, with excellent technique and admirable insight and enthusiasm.



Bruckner: Symphony No. 7 (Arranged for Chamber Ensemble)

Mahler: Symphony No. 4 - Arranged by Erwin Stein

Waltz Reflections



Wonderful Neo-Impressionistic cover-art of Klimt's 1912 landscape, Lane in the Park of the Schloß Kammer: exquisite!

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