A Foot In Both Camps

The conductor James Conlon is a keen advocate of the work of Zemlinsky and this disk features Symphony No 1 and Symphony No 2, works written in Zemlinsky's student days and often discounted as immature and semi formed. But while it would be unfounded to accord them the status of any master work, they are well crafted and it is interesting to see how they point towards his later work as well as showing the influence on him of Wagner and Bruckner. Conlon here conducts the Gurzenich-Orchester Kolner Philharmoniker. The first symphony is built on accepted classical forms and received the support of Brahms, despite Zemlinsky tending to favour the opposing camp in the musical standoff between Brahms and Wagner disciples. The second symphony is a freere more mature work that could be looked upon as his last early work or as his first mature one. The finale is a passacaglia dedicated to Brahms who had recently died. The continued boost to Zemlinsky's reputation will depend on later works rather than these but together they make a disk of thoroughly serviceable late romantic fare and a change from the monumentalism of Bruckner and Mahler.