Zemlinsky: Die Seejungfrau

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The work has an unmistakable cumulative power, and its iridescent orchestration is as beautiful as anyone’s. While the orchestra here is not as lustrous-toned as Zemlinsky would have reckoned... — BBC Music Magazine, September 2020, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 26th Jun 2020
Catalogue No: PTC5186740
Label: Pentatone
Length: 47 minutes

Record Review

20th June 2020

Record of the Week
Opus Klassik

2021

Conductor of the Year

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Zemlinsky: Die Seejungfrau

Work length47:28

$11.00

$14.15

$19.25

Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra
Marc Albrecht

I. Sehr mäßig bewegt [Live]

Track length15:56

$4.00

$5.15

$7.00

II. Sehr bewegt, rauschend [Live]

Track length17:06

$4.00

$5.15

$7.00

III. Sehr gedehnt, mit schmerzvollem Ausdruck [Live]

Track length14:26

$3.00

$3.85

$5.25

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Marc Albrecht and the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra present Zemlinsky’s lush symphonic poem Die Seejungfrau. Zemlinsky was a child of fin-de-siècle Vienna, who for decades has been overshadowed by colleagues such as Gustav Mahler – the man who married Alma, the woman Zemlinsky also loved - and Arnold Schoenberg – the man who would later become his brotherin-law. In recent times, Zemlinsky is finally gaining the recognition he deserves. The same applies to his symphonic poem Die Seejungfrau, based on Andersen’s Little Mermaid story. Zemlinsky withdrew the score after its premiere in 1905; the three movements were first reunited in the 1980s thanks to scholars, after which the piece could start its second life. Die Seejungfrau seems inspired by Zemlinsky’s love in vain for Alma, clothed in cinematic fin-de-siècle music with Debussy-like evocations of the sea.

This new recording marks the final PENTATONE album of Marc Albrecht as chief conductor of the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra. It is their sixth collective PENTATONE recording, and underlines their proficiency in German late-Romantic repertoire. Previously, they have released Richard Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben/Burleske (2018), Mahler Song Cycles (2017), Brahms/Schoenberg (2015), Mahler’s Fourth Symphony (2015) and his song cycle Das Lied von der Erde (2013)

Reviews

September 2020

The work has an unmistakable cumulative power, and its iridescent orchestration is as beautiful as anyone’s. While the orchestra here is not as lustrous-toned as Zemlinsky would have reckoned on in the Vienna he knew, the players rise impressively to the score’s intricate technical demands, and Marc Albrecht’s conducting has super sweep and sureness of purpose.

Nov/Dec 2020

I cannot stress enough how seductively warm and beautiful this music is, or how imaginative. Like the ocean, itself, it’s ever-changing, but a single entity. This is a wonderful live performance in fine Concertgebouw sound. Albrecht goes from strength to strength as a recording artist. He’s an exciting, natural conductor without phrasing eccentricities.

21st June 2020

Albrecht inspires his orchestra in this late-Romantic score, intoxicated with the chromatic ecstasy of Schoenberg’s Transfigured Night.

For sheer tonal allure Albrecht’s performance can’t quite match the two available from Riccardo Chailly and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (on Decca and the orchestra’s own label), but it’s still powerful enough to convince any sceptics that this is a score that deserves much more than the occasional dutiful revival.

Zemlinsky: Die Seejungfrau

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