Sumptuously performed and unflinchingly recorded, this collection will be seized on by Schreker enthusiasts, and they will enjoy every massively scored climax, every gorgeously coloured, embroidered and encrusted texture. Those who are only Schreker enthusiasts north-north-west may need to be warned that the climaxes are pretty frequent and that the textures are in constant flux. Listening to this programme uninterrupted is recommended only to addicts; others may wonder whether Schreker isn't repeating himself.
I have listened to this disc several times, and have heard several of the works in it in other performances, but in a musical quiz I could not guarantee readily to distinguish a climactic passage from the Prelude to a Drama from another in the Symphonic Interlude or the Nachtstuck. All are operatic preludes or entr'actes (from Die Gezeichneten, Der Schatzgraber and Der ferne Klang respectively), and all serve similar functions: to represent in a darkened auditorium erotic acts or emotions that could scarcely be represented on a stage. To hear all three in rapid succession is rather like listening to repeated performances of the Prelude to Der Rosenkavalier (much shorter than any of Schreker's pieces, but Strauss had only two climaxes to depict).
At least those pieces are punctuated by earlier, less heady things. The Valse lente is balletic light music, softly and delicately scored. Ekkehard is a tone-poem about a monk who falls in love with a Duchess and goes to war to defend her: each of these aspects has its own theme, and they are turbulently developed before a peaceful conclusion on Ekkehard's 'monastic' melody over a wonderfully palpable organ pedal. No programme is stated for the Fantastic Overture, but it approaches the three big dramatic pieces in richness and therefore perhaps in subject matter. Not many composers demand quite so much of a vast orchestra as Schreker, and Sinaisky and his orchestra both amply fulfil those demands and sound as though they are enjoying themselves enormously.
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