Sophie Klussmann (soprano) et al; Robert-Schumann-Philharmonie/Jakob Brenner
Hänssler Classic HC23065 63:44 mins
It is chastening to discover that only one previous album exists dedicated to the music of Grete von Zieritz. Gladly, this accomplished new album offers a welcome introduction to her work, and successfully traces the artistic trajectory of this formidably gifted modernist composer.
Born in Vienna in 1899, Grete von Zieritz began her career as a piano teacher in Berlin. The album’s opening work, Japanese Songs, proved her gateway to composing professionally. Written in 1919, the work sets ten brief Japanese poems and its 1921 premiere proved such a success that von Zieritz promptly began composing full time.
This richly satisfying work, which teeters between late Romanticism and more challenging modernist tonalities, moves from epic grandeur to exquisite moments of quiet beauty. Sophie Klussmann delivers a gloriously pliant performance, met at every turn by the excellent Robert-Schumann-Philharmonie under Jakob Brenner. A sole criticism is that the sleeve notes don’t include the texts of these intriguing poems.
Le Violon de la Mort (1953/1957) follows, a work sparked by a dreamlike vision experienced by the composer of Death playing the violin in a tree. Violinist Nina Karmon is somewhat restrained in the work’s wilder passages, but conjures a wonderfully eerie soundworld in its softer moments, while pianist Oliver Triendl brings a sense of grace and wit to the ghostly waltz at the centre of the work.
The album closes with von Zieritz’s Double Concerto for Two Trumpets and Orchestra (1975), a virtuosic and celebratory work that also dabbles in Latin American rhythm in its exuberant last movement. Featuring two fine performances from trumpeters Jeroen Berwaerts and Andre Schoch, it proves a fitting finale to this excellent album.
