Search - Alexander Zemlinsky, Barbara Bonney, Anne Sofie von Otter :: Zemlinsky: Lieder [Complete Vocal Works]

Rare Art of die Jugendstil...

Sébastien Melmoth | Hôtel d'Alsace, PARIS | 12/28/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

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Jugendstil [Youthful Style] is the Viennese equivalent of Art Nouveau--that gentle, naturalistic, feminine style cultivated in the arts of Western Europe c.1890-1915. Characteristics of Art Nouveau include reliance on natural materials, exploration of organic floral forms, sympathy towards feminine beauty, and an ethos of anti-industrialization and counter-machine esthetic, while promoting an existential spirituality. In this sense, Art Nouveau is yet another sub-genre of Romanticism.



Besides aspects of interior design, we may see Art Nouveau not only in the various plastic arts, but also in the closely related genres of poetry and music produced during this turn-of-the-century period which we sometimes call la Belle Époque: in some ways, it must have been a lovely time indeed.



The Art Nouveau or Jugendstil influence was especially strong in London, Paris, Brussels, Munich, Prague, and Vienna--the last of which was of course a center of cultural ferment at the Fin de Siècle with its outstanding musical tradition.



So, at this time we see late-Brahms (and Bruckner), Mahler, Zemlinsky, early-Schönberg, Berg, and others, as essentially Jugendstil composers.



Withal, this 2CD set is very exciting for its presentation of such rare art. Driven by expert accompanist Cord Garben (who has done all Carl Loewe's work on CPO label), this late-'80s set features excellent vocalists (Bonney, von Otter, Schmidt) in splendid realizations of Zemlinsky's settings of older generation German poets (Eichendorff, Goethe), contemporary German poets (Richard Dehmel, Stefan George), and even "Decadent" French and African-American poets (Maurice Maeterlinck, Langston Hughes).



See too:

Songs for Voice & Piano

Hugo Wolf, Gustav Mahler: Lieder

Mahler Lied Mahler Lieder Song Cycles

Anne Sofie von Otter - Love's Twilight (Late Romantic Songs by Berg, Korngold, Strauss)

Anne Sofie von Otter - Johannes Brahms Lieder

Eric Zeisl: Lieder

Franz Lehár: Lieder Vol. 2

Carl Loewe: Piano Sonatas

Zemlinsky: Lieder

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