When listening to this superbly performed and recorded SACD it is not difficult to comprehend why the reputation of Franz Schreker (1878-1934) as a leading opera composer rivalled that of Richard Strauss during the first couple of decades of the 20th century.

Schreker's operas are an eclectic and heady mixture of lush late Romantic opulence, Impressionism and Expressionism, whose atmospheric plots, often spiced with violence and eroticism, matched the zeitgeist of the period before the 1st World War. Schreker's star waned somewhat during the years of the Weimar Republic, but with the rise of Nazism his Jewish descent combined with his modernist tendencies led to anti-Semitic demonstrations at performances of his works in 1932. After Hitler came to power he was summarily dismissed from his teaching post at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik and performances of his music were proscribed. A year later, following a series of strokes, he died aged only 56.

Over the past thirty or so years there has been a renewed interest in Schreker's oeuvre that, though sporadic, has resulted in the staging of some of his nine operas in European houses. I have been lucky enough to attend performances of Der ferne Klang, Der Schatzgräber and Die Gezeichneten and can attest to their dramatic power and compelling theatricality enhanced by the composer's sumptuous orchestral scores. It is the latter though which afford the best introduction to Schreker's music and the seven items chosen for this disc do provide a well-rounded portrait of the composer, though I would have preferred them to have been presented in chronological order, to match the essay in the liner notes, rather than as listed below.

Symphonisches Zwischenspiel from Der Schatzgräber (1915-18)
Vorspiel from Die Gezeichneten (1913-15)
Vorspiel from Das Spielwerk (1908-15)
Vorspiel zu einer großen Oper (1933)
Nachtstück from Der ferne Klang (1903-10)

One could hardly imagine any of these pieces being performed with more commitment and flair than Lawrence Renes, the music director and chief conductor of the Royal Swedish Opera, brings to them. Renes demonstrates a fastidious ear for the delicacy of Schreker's scoring (often involving harps, celesta and glockenspiel) and the flexible manner with which he paces the music allows the ripe melodic lines and powerful climaxes to blossom to maximum effect.

The BIS 5.0 multi-channel recording, the work of the experienced Take 5 Music Production team (Ingo Petry - producer and Thore Brinkmann - engineer), is remarkable for its clarity, warmth and naturalness; qualities that thanks to the full-blooded playing from the Royal Swedish orchestra allow Schreker's glittering chromatic harmonies and total mastery of his opulent forces to reach the listener with maximum effect. This is not the first time the pieces on this disc have appeared on CD though never in such sumptuous sound as heard here

Excellent notes by Horst A. Scholz provide helpful summaries of the plots of the operas from which these orchestral pieces are taken. While these usefully put the music in context they are definitely not a pre-requisite to the enjoyment of Schreker's fascinating scores.

For those with a sweet tooth this is an unmissable release.

Copyright © 2016 Graham Williams and HRAudio.net

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