Zemlinsky’s Eine florentinische Tragödie, completed in 1916, may not have the despairing intensity that distinguishes his subsequent opera, Der Zwerg, but its modest duration and sumptuous scoring make it an attractive proposition for home listening. Based on Oscar Wilde’s unfinished play A Florentine Tragedy, the story concerns a merchant, Simone, who returns home early to find his wife, Bianca, in the company of a local nobleman, Guido Bardi. The ensuing conversation proceeds as if nothing untoward has occurred, although Guido’s covetousness for Bianca and Simone’s animosity towards the visitor become ever more apparent as the drama proceeds, resulting in a violent denouement. The passion that Bianca finds for her previously despised husband at the end is perhaps unconvincing, but Zemlinsky’s descriptive score reflects every nuance of the text as well as underpinning the drama with an increasing sense of tension.

The vitality of Bertrand de Billy’s conducting and the richness of the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra’s playing in this 2010 concert recording are both extremely compelling. Wolfgang Koch provides a committed and well-rounded portrayal of Simone, capturing the passion as well as the menace of the vengeful merchant, while Charles Reid gives a youthfully lyrical performance of the ill-fated Guido. Heidi Brunner is focused and ardent as Bianca. Unlike Chailly’s refined Decca recording, where the singers tend to sound like an adjunct to the orchestra, the balance here favours the voices, occasionally at the expense of orchestral detail. Jurowski’s marvellously lucid LPO version, despite also being a concert recording, offers a more natural balance between voices and orchestra and is preferable to both in this respect. The Capriccio CD booklet includes a libretto in German and English, although the benefit is rather undermined by the English text having random letters missing on most pages. In addition, a section of the libretto accounting for about 90 seconds of singing in track 6 is missing in both languages. These presentational deficiencies aside, this is a distinguished addition to the discography of this rewarding late-Romantic opera.