<\/p>\n
\u201eFatal love\u201c is the main theme shared between Franz Schreker\u00b4s picturesque \u201eThe birthday of the Infanta\u201c based on the fairy tale by Oscar Wilde and Alexander von Zemlinsky\u00b4s epic rendition of Hans Christian Andersen\u00b4s
\n\u201eThe little Mermaid\u201c. Both works were composed in Vienna during the beginning of the 20th century. Erich Wolfgang Korngold\u00b4s \u201eSix simple songs\u201c Opus 9, proof of his youthful genius, complete this collection of works giving a diverse impression of Vienna prior to WWI.<\/p>\n
For the Ballet production \u201eThe little Mermaid\u201c in 2016 by the Choreograph, Mei Hong Lin, at the \u201eState-theatre of Upper Austria\u201c, Daniel Linton-France<\/strong> performed Schreker\u00b4s \u201eThe Birthday of the Infanta\u201c and \u201eZemlinsky\u00b4s \u201cLittle Mermaid\u201c with the \u201eBruckner Orchestra, Linz\u201c to great acclaim amongst audience and critics alike.<\/p>\n The viennese \u201eOnline Merker\u201c wrote (17.10.16):<\/p>\n \u201eDaniel Linton-France<\/strong> elicited a magical, enticing sound from the Bruckner Orchestra. He let the music flow in all it\u00b4s intricacy, gentleness, brusqueness, radiance and gloominess, with great suspense but always precise and detailed.<\/em>\u201c<\/p>\n The \u201eUpper Austrian News\u201c commented (17.10.16):<\/p>\n \u201eUnder the masterful direction of Daniel Linton-France<\/strong>, the Bruckner Orchestra presented superbly the sound worlds of Schreker and Zemlinsky.<\/em>\u201c<\/p>\n Performance and rehearsal excerpts may be heard under the following links:<\/p>\n \u201eThe little Mermaid\u201c by Alexander von Zemlinsky \u201eThe Marionettes\u201c from \u201eThe Birthday of the Infanta\u201c by Franz Schreker Franz Schreker composed \u201eThe Birthday of the Infanta\u201c in 1908 as a commission by the Wiesenthal sisters, who were famous dancers in Vienna at the time. The material for this new pantomime-style of performance came from Oscar Wilde\u00b4s collection of fairy tales \u201eA House of Pomegranates\u201c. \u201eA caricature – chinless, small, with eyes popping out and a crazy manner of conducting.\u201c This is a diary excerpt by Alma Mahler ne\u00e9 Schindler referring to her former teacher and lover Alexander von Zemlinsky. Between 1919 and 1921 Zemlinsky composed the single act opera \u201eThe Dwarf\u201c, also based on Following a performance by Richard Strauss of his symphonic poems in January 1901 in Vienna, Sch\u00f6nberg and Zemlinsky were provoked by claims that The \u201eSix simple songs\u201c Opus 9 by Erich Wolfgang Korngold were composed between 1911 and 1916, during which time he was briefly studying composition with Zemlinsky. The arrangement of the original (voice and piano) for chamber orchestra was completed by the composer and conductor Ingo Ingensand.<\/p>\n A concert recording of the arrangement may be heard under the following link (Tenor – Jacques LeRoux, Conductor- Daniel Linton-France<\/em>):\u00a0youtu.be\/ygQ7r0xZzL0<\/a><\/p>\n For more about the conductor Daniel Linton-France please visit: www.daniellinton-france.com<\/a><\/p>\n
\nyoutu.be\/TUrIjgyoCso<\/a><\/p>\n
\nyoutu.be\/pldL7iQ5WH8<\/a><\/p>\n
\nIn short, the plot is as follows:
\nA sultan has sent a dwarf as a present to the Infanta (Spanish princess) Donna Clara on her birthday. The dwarf is unaware of his physical deformity and becomes infatuated with the Infanta. He sings her a love song and imagines himself her brave knight. She toys with him and gives him a white rose as a present. Left alone, he accidentally uncovers a mirror and sees his own reflection for the first time. In great agitation, he tries to obtain a kiss from the Infanta, but she spurns him and calls him a monster. His heart broken, he dies clutching the white rose as the Infanta rejoins the party.<\/p>\n
\nOscar Wilde\u00b4s fairy tale \u201eThe Birthday of the Infanta\u201c. The parallels between Zemlinsky\u00b4s relationship toward Alma Schindler and his choice of libretto cannot be overseen.<\/p>\n
\nStrauss\u00b4 symphonic works were the pinnacle of the art of composition. Sch\u00f6nberg begann soon after with the composition of \u201ePelleas and Melisande\u201c while Zemlinsky chose to put Hans Christian Andersen\u00b4s unhappy love story, \u201eThe Little Mermaid\u201c to music. Zemlinsky began with the composition early in 1902, shortly after breaking off his liaison with Alma Schindler and completed it parallel to his duties as \u201eKapellmeister\u201c at the \u201eCarl-theatre\u201c in Vienna on the 20th of March 1903. The premiere took place on the 25th of January, 1905 in a concert of the \u201eVereinigung schaffender Tonk\u00fcnstler in Wien\u201c, in which Sch\u00f6nberg\u00b4s Pelleas and Melisande was also premiered. The viennese musicologist and critic, Richard Specht commented on the premiere of the
\n\u201eLittle Mermaid\u201c:
\n\u201eOne senses that some incident has taken place in the artist\u00b4s life – whether good or bad, it has fateful significance.\u201c<\/p>\n