<>         ZEMLINSKY REVIVAL CONTINUES AT S.F. SYMPHONY 
                                              By Paul Hertelendy 
        artssf.com, the independent observer of San Francisco Bay Area music and dance 
                                                                 Week of April 30-May 7, 2010
                                                                  Vol. 12, No. 95
          A lush late-romantic symphony with voices got a rare hearing at the San Francisco Symphony  April 29, reflecting an individual style and a strong talent at ultra-orchestration.
           The Viennese Alexander Zemlinsky created something akin to a 16-cylinder limousine with his "Lyric Symphony" (1923), tying himself to earlier traditions and ignoring his era of fast-changing musical upheavals. The work is passionate and profound, using translated texts of love and loss by the Nobel poet Tagore. And if it’s far more a song cycle than a symphony, well, let’s not quibble about semantics. 
            Zemlinsky, who will turn 140 next year, was little heard on the West Coast till the revelations of recent years---here, via the "Florentine Tragedy," and at L.A. Opera, his luxurious one-act opera "The Dwarf," which enjoyed a huge success. Encyclopedias refer to him as “eminent composer,” as well as conductor and teacher of Schoenberg (who also married Z’s sister in the closely intertwined Viennese cultural society).
            The seven poems of his current piece are romantic in the escapist sense, and sensual as well, full of memorable imagery. The stentorian parts are delivered by a baritone, the lyrical spacers by soprano.
            The many colors and broad gestures were gorgeously brought out by the S.F. Symphony under guest Christoph Eschenbach, who knew it well and had also recorded it. The big outbursts of brass alternate with tender moments like a deft and brief violin-cello duo (nicely rendered by Nadya Tichman and Michael Grebanier). The keystone in the set is the serene "Speak to Me, My Love" by soprano.
            But at heart, this is a love-tragedy, setting off from the tragic and stormy opening "I Am Unable to Find Peace." A (repeated) German phrase "You are my own, my own" was later appropriated by fellow composer Alban Berg in his own "Lyric Suite" as a billet-doux to his secret lady friend, with no one the wiser.
            The performances were impressive,. but less than ideal. Afteer Matthias Goerne had to cancel because of illness, baritone James Johnson, who had the whole text memorized, came on with a broad and massive voice that tried to hug pitches more than hit them. The lower range faded into silence, and few of the words were intelligible. The soprano was Christine Schäfer, actually a high mezzo, who struggled mightily to be heard above the huge orchestra with only intermittent success; ideally, this opus requires something close to Wagnerian voices, even though the music stands much closer to, say, Richard Strauss than to Richard Wagner.
            Finally, we have the translation problem, going from Tagore to Zemlinsky's German, involving numerous errors in translation, with bizarre misdeals like "manhood" becoming "courage."
            The audience received it with polite applause, which was probably about right---a powerful work, but inconsistent execution.
            Eschenbach's matinee opened with Schumann's Symphony No. 4, perusing a composer less popular with audiences than in the past, a task that should not be attempted unless a maestro can do it with flair and eloquence, rather than mere workmanlike preparation.
           These San Francisco Symphony concerts under Eschenbach continue through May 1 at 8 p.m. For info: (415) 864-6000, or go  online. Broadcasts on KDFC-FM (102.1) at 8 p.m. on the second Tuesday following.
        ©Paul Hertelendy 2010

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           Paul Hertelendy has been covering the dance and modern-music scene in the San Francisco Bay Area with relish -- and a certain amount of salsa -- for years.
    These critiques appearing weekly (or sometimes semi-weekly, but never weakly) will focus on dance and new musical creativity in performance, with forays into books (by authors of the region), theater and recordings by local artists as well.
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