Chandos has released a CD of music by one of my favorite composers, Franz
Schreker.  The release contains the Fantastic Overture, Nachtstuck, Prelude
to a Drama, Interlude from Der Schatzgraber, Valse Lente, and Ekkehard
Overture.  These works are performed by the BBC Philharmonic and Vassily
Sinaisky.

If you are not familiar with Schreker, a very late Romantic, please look
up my posts in the archives.  If you like his music and have enjoyed what
has come out so far, I can't recommend this CD highly enough.

The "Prelude to a Drama" is actually the overture to Die Gezeichneten,
expanded for use as a stand-alone concert piece.  Sinaisky delivers a
performance of clarity, bringing out the individual lines in climactic
moments, which can easily sound like cacophony.

The real standout on the CD is the Nachtstuck, an interlude from Der ferne
Klang.  It's rare these days that a moment in music will elicit a "Wow"
from me, but the "Nachtstuck" does just that.  Oh, how it glows, especially
with Chandos' typically luminous sound.

Listen specifically from 2'17" to 2'50".  I really think the autumnal
Mahler would have been jealous of this moment--what a wondrous sound.
Are there moments of glitz? A few.  Are there moments that sound like Capt.
Kirk launching the USS Enterprise out into space for the first time on the
big screen with phasers set for "Dolby Surround?" Yes, but this is NOT
Schreker's fault.

The other substantial piece is the Interlude from Der Schatzgraber.
Again, Schreker displays his gift for melody, and supports his lines with
some of the most jaw-dropping orchestral effects I have heard.  Can anyone
make a large orchestra, at full throttle, defy gravity and skip along as
though it were playing a Debussy confection as well as Schreker?

The lesser pieces are very good, and I especially like the Straussian
echoes in the Ekkehard overture.

Enjoy!

John Smyth