Anne Ozorio writes:

>Tell us about the Beaumont.  It is, for several reasons, an "important"
>recording.

It certainly is.  I was slightly mystified by the (generally benign)
indifference with which it was greeted here in the UK.  Maybe we have
not yet got the Zemlinsky bug, although Opera North's good production
of "The Dwarf" may change some of that.

This new, Chandos version of the Lyric Symphony presents the score clean
for the first time, with hundreds of mistakes in the orchestral parts
corrected by Beaumont himself, Zemlinsky's biographer and champion in
chief.  Although there aren't major audible changes, there's certainly
a lucidity to the scoring which is less in evidence on earlier, leading
versions such as those under Maazel and Gielen, to name my own two
favourites.

Then there is the matter of the soloists.  Beaumont paid attention
to what Zemlinsky actually wanted - an older man and a younger woman.
Some of the criticisms of his chosen baritone, Franz Grundheber, failed
completely to take this into account.  Yes, by the side of a Terfel
(Sinopoli) or Fischer-Dieskau (Maazel) he does sound elderly - but that's
the point.  Aside from the fact that Grundheber fits the composer's bill,
his interpretation makes up in depth and experience what it lacks in
vocal sheen.  I have never been so moved by the crucial repeated words
in song 3 ("Du bist mein eigen, mein eigen") the unforgettable musical
setting of which Berg was to quote in his Lyric Suite.  Grundheber
delivers it with a simple sincerity which is very affecting.

Beaumont's soprano, Turid Karlsen, is maybe a shade pallid vocally.
By the side of Varady (Maazel - wonderfully poised and post-coital in
"Sprich zu mir ...") or Isokowski (Conlon) she is less personal in sound,
more generalised in interpretation.  None the less, the contrast between
the two singers - the wisdom of age against the hope of inexperience -
makes the work's impact all the greater.  It feels right.

Beaumont does not overdo the power in the first two numbers, the
lyrical heart of the lovemaking (3-4) emerges as natural and unforced.
The magical detail of the scoring here has never emerged with such
luminosity, not even in EMI's spectacular sound for Conlon.  The Czech
Philharmonic play with gentle, inner warmth throughout.  The bitterness
of the climactic 5-6, and sunset resignation of the last number are all
presented with perfect dramatic / lyric balance, without a trace of hype
or hysteria.

This is a profound, inexhaustible work; but for me the Beaumont version
gets closer than any to its heart, illuminating the path of this splendid
epic of the human tragedy of erotic love with clarity and musical
understanding.  By its side most other versions seem superficial.

Its understatement is not going to be for all tastes: maybe newcomers
to the work would be better off with one of the more up-front readings
- they could do worse than choose the ultra-cheap Gielen version on Arte
Nova, though it lacks Tagore's vital texts.  Beaumont also gives us the
composer's complete incidental music to "Cymbeline" as a 27-minute filler.

For me, this Chandos CD has been something of a revelation.  For the
first time, I'm thinking about taking Zemlinsky's "Lyric" to my desert
island in place of its incomparable model - Mahler's "Das Lied von der
Erde".  Luckily we don't have to choose between these two masterpieces!

Christopher Webber, Blackheath, London, UK
http://www.zarzuela.net
"ZARZUELA!" The Spanish Music Site