Royal Swedish Archive

FRANZ SCHREKER: Orchestral Music from the Operas – Royal Swedish Orch./ Lawrence Renes – BIS

FRANZ SCHREKER: Orchestral Music from the Operas – Royal Swedish Orch./ Lawrence Renes – BIS

The unfortunately almost forgotten composer Franz Schreker emphasized operas but these instrumental works from them show off his great musical art. FRANZ SCHREKER: Orchestral Music from the Operas [TrackList Follows] – Royal Swedish Orch./ Lawrence Renes – BIS multichannel SACD -2212, 68:30 (10/14/16) [Distr. by Naxos] *****: Franz Schreker was thought to be one of the most eminent composers for the sumptuous sonorities of his operas at his time, early in the 20th century. Schoenberg even called him one of the foremost. However, from the 1930s on, his music was in almost complete oblivion, partly due to the Nazis and his father being of Jewish descent. (This in spite of his operas being greatly influenced by Wagner.) He was also out of step with all avant music developments during the 1920s. Schreker usually wrote the librettos for his own operas, which often had symbolist and erotic subjects. More then other opera composers, the orchestral sections of his operas are often of greater importance when heard in concert. Schreker often intended the instrumental sections for independent concert use, showing off his musical wizardry. He often set his operas in medieval times, and the closing track: Nachtstück (Nocturne) was, in a slightly […]