Being a contemporary of the likes of Strauss, Schoenberg and
Mahler, Franz Schreker has been somewhat overshadowed by his German colleagues
over the years. But the music, of course, remains the same. There is no
question that he is a substantial talent, a late romantic artist with
a penchant for lush, fully scored textures.
As for advancing Schreker's cause, this disc can only
be given a lukewarm welcome. Some of the music comes from very early
in his career, and sounds like it too. The opening items, the Ekkehard
Overture and the Fantastic Overture, both date from the first years
of the century when he was in his early twenties, and they lack a cutting
edge.
The trend these two pieces set is admittedly typical
for the whole programme, exhibiting a liking for sweeping lines and
rich, chromatic textures. Of these features the best example is certainly
the Prelude to Die Gezeichneten, an opera concerning a tragic tale of
a crippled nobleman and his rival in love. The story justifies anguished
music, which Schreker duly delivers. The Prelude has abundant atmosphere,
using the orchestra with great imagination, including shimmering string
tremolandi and arching melodic lines.
Edgar Seipenbusch conducts committed performances,
but the results are rather flat. Neither the orchestral playing nor,
it has to be said, the recorded sound, is of the front rank: adequate
seems the best word to describe both. As a result, there is a general
lack of tonal lustre and of impact and intensity, no matter how full-textured
the climaxes may be. For the sound produced is rather dull and opaque,
and that is why the music making feels the same. Schreker's may be a
worthy cause, but it will not be hugely advanced by this disc.
Terry Barfoot