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Label:
  Chandos - http://www.chandos.net/
Serial:
  CHSA 5022
Title:
  Zemlinsky: Symphony in D Minor etc. - Beaumont
Description:
  Zemlinsky: Dei Seejungfrau - Fantasy for Orchestra, Symphony in D minor

Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Antony Beaumont (conductor)
Track listing:
  Total time: 70:35
Genre:
  Classical - Orchestral
Content:
  Stereo/Multichannel
Media:
  Hybrid
Recording type:
 
Recording info:
  Recorded in: Dvorák Hall, Rudolfinum, Prague - 12-14 and 22 & 23 March, 2003
Producer: Ralph Couzens
Sound Engineer: Oldrich Slezák

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Reviews: 3

Review by raffells February 16, 2005 (8 of 8 found this review helpful)
Performance:   Sonics:
I will split this review into 3.......The sacd sonics are almost as good as any Chandos RVW series and likewise is 24/96 pcm sourced . It certainly is more detailed than any CD and more expansive with plenty of tonal colouring and warmth.Which is certainly required by these works,
The Music''''' An early work The 4 movement Symphony could be described as an excellent Brahms 5th symphony and a blindfold test by an unknowing listener would be interesting.....This does not make it a poorer piece...Some other composers occasionally come to mind for a few bars.Dvorak being one....This version far superscedes the Marco Polo version I have on vinyl and I dont think there will be a much better performances..Czech Philharmonic . ....... The Mermaid Fantasy is altogether a different kettle of fish.!...39 minutes of Tone painting Richard Struass with a big hint of Mahler.. The whole feast (a concerto for Very Large Orchestra ) last for near 39 minutes.in 3 sections...This work was based on aHans Christian Andersons tale....Some spotlighting of individual instruments takes place especially the violin..... I admit this is just my music and bought this after a live concert performance in LA....If you forget the similarity of styles to previous mentioned composers and just listen for enjoyment then This is a Must have....My criticism is mild...I would have great difficulty in identifying or remembering a tune or theme from the work...even though Ive played it several times...Unusually for such a large scale work ends quietly....ideal as it prefaces the earlier 31 minutes symphony on the disc..More like this please...Dave

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Review by jlaurson October 10, 2007 (3 of 3 found this review helpful)
Performance:   Sonics:  
Any mermaid coming my way is highly welcome – and if I have to content myself with Alexander (von) Zemlinsky’s tone poem of that name (as I had to, so far), that’s fine, too. Die Seejungfrau, in its original German title, is 104 years old, but its attraction remains undiminished. Zemlinsky is one of those sadly neglected composers of the turn of the last century who should appeal to all those who like Richard Strauss’s tone poems and Metamorphosen or early Schoenberg (think Verklärte Nacht or Pelleas & Melisande) or Mahler.

Dausgaard’s recent second recording with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra – this time live and on the Dacapo label - does not improve on his earlier version or Conlon's or Beaumont's, but it is another exquisite reading and welcome to the catalog. Chailly is not available in the US... and at any rate not available on SACD.

So it looks like Chandos has the mermaid market cornered – both Beaumont (esp. on SACD) and Dausgaard (my favorite on RBCD) have come up with excellent versions that have eclipsed even James Conlon’s EMI recording in my estimation. Anyone who wants SACD sound and wants to listen to this sublime tone-poem need not buy other versions, too, to figure whether he is getting a good deal: Beaumont *does* provide for just about everything you'd want in this work.

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Review by Oscar May 15, 2007 (2 of 4 found this review helpful)
Performance:   Sonics:    
Zemlinsky´s works have been recorded in the past, but results have sometimes been bland. None of this is this excellent disc. Beaumont, the conductor, is perhaps the preeminent Zemlinsky specialist today, so he knows very well the inner workings of these pieces, and how they should be conducted. The Czech Philarminic Orchestra sounds glorious, the strings ripe and the woodwinds a bit picqant. The music is a transition between Brahms and Mahler, not a bad combination.

The sound, as expected from Chandos, is excellent. Ample and athmospheric.

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Works: 2  

Alexander Zemlinsky - Die Seejungfrau (The Mermaid) - Fantasy for Orchestra
Alexander Zemlinsky - Symphony in D minor