‘This West Indian tragedy has remained the sole dramatic work of a heroic world in pre-Columbian times that, after a flourishing heyday, was abruptly terminated by foreign violence.’ Egon Wellesz (1925). In musical terms, the Opferung shows Egon Wellesz at the zenith of his creativity. In this music, Wellesz’ emancipation from his mentor Schoenberg and his aesthetics has progressed even further, as throughout his life Egon Wellesz was interested in evolving his own, unmistakable musical diction. The events of 12 March 1938 put a sudden end to this so successful career: As a Jew, monarchist and the writer of ‘degenerate music’, the 53-year-old musician was immediately removed from all of his posts and wanted by the police after ‘the seizure of power’. Following a long illness, Egon Wellesz died in Oxford in 1974.
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Reviews
"... The musical style is immensely communicative. Wellesz was a truly fine composer: this one composition is surely on the level of his best musicological work (which is to say first-rate). I recommend Opferung and its recording to anybody interested in the "freely tonal" composers of the 20th Century."
Ralph Locke – American Record Guide – March/April 2021
“… If you are attracted to the music of Hindemith, Honegger, Janácek, Zemlinsky, or Korngold, Wellesz’s name is another one you will want to be looking for … The conductor, Friedrich Cerha, is himself a composer, best known for having completed Berg’s final opera, Lulu. The performance is at once powerful and, in its many colors, quite varied. The vocal soloists are steady and forthright: they sing somewhat impersonally, as is appropriate in a highly ritualized work of music theater. The acoustic is natural: the fuller passages do not distort or overwhelm. This means that the dynamic range is quite wide. The musical style … is immensely communicative. Wellesz was a truly fine composer. Egon Wellesz’s Weimar era critique of the cruelty of nations that are victorious in war still rings hauntingly true."
Ralph P. Locke – theartsfuse.org – 1 May 2021
“… The orchestral playing is impeccable and there are strongly-voiced interventions from the choir as the initially hostile populace. The conductor Friedrich Cerha proves a determined advocate for this obscure piece…”
George Hall – Opera – May 2021
Pizzicato Supersonic
"... a convincing and rewarding performance."
Uwe Krusch - Pizzicato.lu – 20 October 2020
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