Zemlinsky: Symphony in B flat; Sinfoniettaby Anonymous

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October 10, 2006: Alexander Zemlinsky was among the composers whose work changed dramatically in the years following World War I. The two works on this album show his individual talent starting to emerge from predecessors, then foreshadowing the future. Composed in 1897, the Symphony in B flat starts with a major key throw-back to Smetana's E minor String Quartet. From here, listeners can detect resemblances to Brahms, Richard Strauss, Wagner, Dvorak, and maybe even Suk. But Zemlinsky's individual talent makes an impression with arresting melodies and sense of orchestral color--most consistently in the 2nd movement, a somewhat extended scherzo. Even where the homage to the past is most obvious, in the Brahmsian variations of the finale, it is fascinating to hear what Zemlinsky does differently. Where he's less succesful is in making the movement (and the symphony as a whole) more than the sum of its parts. If another composer overlaps with the Sinfonietta (1934), it might be Zemlinsky's protege, Viktor Ullmann. The title and scale of the work are a little misleading. This is, especially in the outer movements, a mercurial piece that demands more time to savor its nuance, moodswings, and sometimes bitter aftertastes. Anthony Beaumont knows the repertoire well. His overall approach is incisive, and that works in pieces here that come before and after Zemlinsky's more expansive works in the early 1900's. It might seem at first he takes the Sinfonietta too lightly, but the brisk tempos in the first and last movements carry more sting. And his characterization of the slower middle movement ("Ballade") is more in keeping with the composer's directive: "sehr gemessen... doch nicht schleppend." Zemlinsky was a multi-cultural Middle European, by ancestry, by composition, and in his conducting. Prague was one of the cities where he had a strong association, especially in the years after the war. The Czech Philharmoic sounds very idiomatic in these works, especially the symphony. The ensemble and the recording are low on acoustical gloss, though not without warmth. You might even say Zemlinsky gains by having less of the glare that can at times make his music sound needlesly overwrought.