Der Spiegel 2021

Following on from their critically acclaimed albums of Stravinsky, Elgar and Tchaikovsky, the award winning team of Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra turn to Zemlinsky and Schreker. Premiered in 1905, Zemlinsky's Die Seejungfrau (after Hans Christian Andersen) was almost ignored by the reviewers. Considered too conservative for the progressives, and too progressive for the conservatives, Zemlinsky struggled to overcome the negative reviews of this masterpiece and withdrew it in the immediate aftermath of the premiere. Vasily Petrenko for this recording uses the original version of the score which restores the "bei der Meerhexe" episode to the 2nd movement. One of the most progressive of the Viennese composers of this period, Schreker's dance pantomime Der Guburtstag der Infantine (story by Oscar Wilde) was given it's premiere in 1908 and was his first big success.