I was also delightfully surprised by Schrecker's music when I came around to it. Firstly by way of the Decca release, then following up with other pieces, then managing to see a performance of Die Gezeichneten at the Bayerische Staatsoper in 2017. The staging was pretty impenetrable but hearing the music live made such a difference. I followed it up the next night with Die Frau ohne Schatten which was a major thrill.
I discovered Schreker through Lawrence Renes' and the Royal Swedish Orchestra's 2016 album of orchestral music from the operas. Loved it! I also have the volume 1 of the CPO series of Schreker's Orchestral works which has... only 1 disc thus far, released in 2020 (doesn't look good for other volumes at this point).
Your description of Schreker's later style being leaner and more acerbic as opposed to the "rich, gooey" style of his earlier operas is accurate, but you have your chronology a little mixed up: Das Spielwerk und die Prinzessin was his third opera, coming right after Flammen and Der Ferne Klang; his final opera was Der Schmied von Ghent.
I guess you meant "Der Schmied von Gent" when speaking about "Das Spielwerk". "Das Spielwerk" was Schreker's 3rd opera and one his most decadent with a princess, who will burn herself together with a music instrument, sort of Papageno's flute turned into a demon; and at the end, a corpse plays a fiddle. The "Schmied" and "Christophorus" are the more austere works, "Christophorus", dedicated to Schoenberg, being a dialogue opera, which was not performed during Schreker's lifetime because of fear of a nazi scandal (and I wonder, if Strauss could have a score, it's so much "Capriccio" in "Christophorus"); the "Schmied" is sort of a folk opera in the vein of Weinberger's "Svanda", and it has no decadent motives. It was booed by SA hooligans and butchered by the nazi press, which caused Schreker's severe depression.
Yes, thanks. As I said below, I have no idea how I came up with that. I think it was just my half-recollection of the order in which these recordings were released (or when I acquired them). Just ignore me.
Fantastic and still underrated composer. There’s a lovely Chamber Symphony (which you mention). Maybe entärtete but ANYTHING but schreckliche musik! A secret sex island? I wonder what reminds me of in recent US politics…..
Schreker conducted the premier of Gurrelieder.
Kudos and props to the Decca of former days for the entire Entartete Musik series, every single entry of which was great to have.
It was, and it should be reissued in a box even though we'd lose the opera librettos. At least we'd have it out there.
"No opera plot can be sensible. People do not sing when they are feeling sensible". - W.H. Auden
His great nephew is my friend the cellist Bruno Schrecker, still living aged 96 up the road from me.
I was also delightfully surprised by Schrecker's music when I came around to it. Firstly by way of the Decca release, then following up with other pieces, then managing to see a performance of Die Gezeichneten at the Bayerische Staatsoper in 2017. The staging was pretty impenetrable but hearing the music live made such a difference. I followed it up the next night with Die Frau ohne Schatten which was a major thrill.
I discovered Schreker through Lawrence Renes' and the Royal Swedish Orchestra's 2016 album of orchestral music from the operas. Loved it! I also have the volume 1 of the CPO series of Schreker's Orchestral works which has... only 1 disc thus far, released in 2020 (doesn't look good for other volumes at this point).
Your description of Schreker's later style being leaner and more acerbic as opposed to the "rich, gooey" style of his earlier operas is accurate, but you have your chronology a little mixed up: Das Spielwerk und die Prinzessin was his third opera, coming right after Flammen and Der Ferne Klang; his final opera was Der Schmied von Ghent.
Thanks for the correction. I have no idea how I came up with that one.
In German "gezeichnet" also means "doomed" ("branded by fate", if you can say that in English).
I know, but I can't help thinking of cows.
I guess you meant "Der Schmied von Gent" when speaking about "Das Spielwerk". "Das Spielwerk" was Schreker's 3rd opera and one his most decadent with a princess, who will burn herself together with a music instrument, sort of Papageno's flute turned into a demon; and at the end, a corpse plays a fiddle. The "Schmied" and "Christophorus" are the more austere works, "Christophorus", dedicated to Schoenberg, being a dialogue opera, which was not performed during Schreker's lifetime because of fear of a nazi scandal (and I wonder, if Strauss could have a score, it's so much "Capriccio" in "Christophorus"); the "Schmied" is sort of a folk opera in the vein of Weinberger's "Svanda", and it has no decadent motives. It was booed by SA hooligans and butchered by the nazi press, which caused Schreker's severe depression.
Yes, thanks. As I said below, I have no idea how I came up with that. I think it was just my half-recollection of the order in which these recordings were released (or when I acquired them). Just ignore me.
Fantastic and still underrated composer. There’s a lovely Chamber Symphony (which you mention). Maybe entärtete but ANYTHING but schreckliche musik!
A secret sex island? I wonder what reminds me of in recent US politics…..