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Alexander von Zemlinsky
Sinfonietta (1934)

Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Sinfonietta B Major op. 5 (1912)

Gürzenich-Orchester Köln
James Conlon conductor

Two Sinfoniettas: one grand and ecstatic and one in a delicate chamber music setting, composed by two Romantic idealists. Former Gürzenich Kapellmeister James Conlon sets out to reexplore two masterpieces of the early 20th century. Erich Wolfgang Korngold, the great master of instrumentation and creator of the opera »Die tote Stadt« (The Dead City) – which was premiered in Cologne, incidentally – intoxicates us with lush sound in broadband quality. Alexander von Zemlinsky however strikes softer notes: In 1934, in a phase of increasing insecurity and hopelessness, he created the brilliant yet highly complex Sinfonietta – a work of throbbing restlessness mirroring a time of horror.