Zemlinskys Zimmer/Zemlinsky’s Room

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The little OPERA theatre of ny has carved out a niche for itself presenting New York premieres or revivals of little known works by major composers. These include the New York stage premieres of Benjamin Britten’s Owen Wingrave and Carlisle Floyd’s Prince of Players as well as rare revivals of Kurt Weill’s Down in the Valley and William Still Grant’s Highway 1, U.S.A. Other rarities include new English translations of operas by Mozart and Haydn. Now LOTNY has turned its attention to a nearly forgotten Austrian master Alexander Zemlinsky, best known for his 1922 opera Der Zwerg and his 1924 Lyric Symphony.

Entitled Zemlinskys Zimmer/Zemlinsky’s Room, the evening included several pieces by the composer in different genres: the 1899 art song “Maiblumen blühten überall” to words by Richard Dehmel for soprano and string sextet, an excerpt from his Second String Quartet, op. 5, his 1898 tenor song “Liebe Schalalbe” to words by Ferdinand Gregorovius, and his 1917 one-act opera Eine florentinische Tragödie, opus 16, based on the one-act play by Oscar Wilde.

Although Zemlinsky is almost forgotten today, he conducted the premieres of some of the most important 20^th century operatic music by German composers: the 1918 Vienna premiere of Richard Strauss’ Salomé, the 1924 Prague premiere of Arnold Schoenberg’s only completed opera Erwartung, and the 1931 Berlin premiere of Kurt Weill’s The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny.

Ironically, after Zemlinsky and Schoenberg became friends, not only did Schoenberg marry Zemlinsky’s sister Mathilde, but he took lessons in counterpoint from the slightly older man, the only formal music lessons Schoenberg ever had. Ever an unlucky man, Zemlinsky’s second opera Es War Einmal was premiered in 1900 in Vienna by none other than Gustav Mahler who soon after ran off with his girlfriend Alma and married her two years later.

Zemlinsky’s fifth opera, Eine florentinische Tragödie is based on Oscar Wilde’s historical one-act play of the same name first published in 1908 eight years after his death. It is one of a series of early Wilde plays based on old-fashioned models and totally unlike the social comedies he is best known for today. Considered to be unfinished, it was originally written to be part of a one-act play festival but Wilde never submitted it. Therefore, it may have been intended to remain a short play or the fact that Wilde never published it might mean he intended to make it longer.

Conducted expertly by Tiffany Chang in a new chamber orchestration by Roland Freisitzer, this three-character opera is inspired by the lush romantic sound of Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss. As the libretto is based on a German prose translation of the Wilde play by Max Meyerfeld, there are no arias per se but the leading character Simone, a Florentine fabric merchant, has many long passages. Artistic director Philip Shneidman who staged the evening has chosen to set it in turn-of-the-last-century Vienna, home to Zemlinsky, rather than Florence in the 16^th century as Oscar Wilde’s play is set. This takes a bit of getting used to considering the plot and the subject matter. However, Kylee Loera’s projection design of historical photographs of Vienna city streets and then an art nouveau wallpapered room sets the proper mood for pre-W.W. I Vienna.

The story is a love triangle which becomes a Gothic horror tale. Simone, a Florentine merchant of fabrics, returns home unexpectedly to find his wife Bianca entertaining Prinz Guido Bardi, the Prince of Florence. Simone takes the opportunity to sell Guido an expensive robe and offers him everything in his house. When Guido chooses Bianca, Simone becomes suspicious. He demands that Bianca go to her spinning wheel which she refuses to do. When he leaves Bianca and Guido briefly alone together, they declare their love and Bianca says she wishes her husband dead. Overhearing this, Simone reflects on death and adultery. When Guido announces that it is time for him to go home, Simone challenges him to a duel in order to see whose blade is better. Guido hits Simone on his arm drawing blood, but Simone overcomes him. The aggrieved husband then offers to fight him with daggers. Simone wins this round too and strangles Guido. Bianca is then attracted to her husband and they are reconciled.

While the acting was somewhat wooden, the singing was excellent. Double cast the opening night performance included baritone Eric McKeever as Simone, soprano Mary-Hollis Hundley as Bianca, and tenor Michael Boley as Prinz Guido all of whom were in fine voice. McKeever who had the most to sing was impressive with these long passages. Strangely, there was no attempt to emphasize the many veiled threats in his words. Nevertheless, the duel overseen by fight director Brad Lemons was very vigorous. Seth Reiser’s set was a sitting room with a sofa much like Sigmund Freud’s couch. His lighting was atmospheric, casting long shadows for the duel which takes place by lantern light. The costuming by Lara de Bruijn was rather strange putting Bianca in what looked like an undergarment and having Prinz Guido remove his military jacket which left him in his undershirt. Simone, however, was appareled in a three-piece grey suit which was appropriate for the pre-W.W I period.

The two lovely art songs sung as a prologue to the opera were in the style of Shubert. Lying on her couch, Hundley did a beautiful job with “Maiblumen blühten überall,” a sad song of a doomed love in a garden setting. Loera’s projections depicted changing colorful art nouveau flower patterns in the manner of Gustav Klimt. The excerpt from Zemlinsky’s “Second String Quartet,” op. five, demonstrated his range incorporating the atonal system promulgated by his brother-in-law Schoenberg. Prefacing the opera with the interpolated art song, Boley gave an excellent rendition of “Liebe Schwalbe” (Sweet Swallow), another ironic statement about love.

Zemlinskys Zimmer/Zemlinsky’s Room was a fascinating introduction to the rarely performed music of this major but forgotten composer. Some clever opera company should mount a full production of Zemlinsky’s two operas from Oscar Wilde as a double bill: Eine florentinische Tragödie, based on the one act “The Florentine Tragedy,” and longer fairy tale opera, Der Zwerg, based on the short story, “The Birthday of the Infanta.” The little OPERA theatre of ny is staying true to its mission of restoring little known works of major composers to the opera stage.

Zemlinskys Zimmer/Zemlinsky’s Room (June 5 – 8, 2025)

The little OPERA theatre of ny

BAM Fisher (Fishman Space), 321 Ashland Place, in Brooklyn

For tickets, visit http://www.bam.org/opera/2025/zemlinskys-zimmer

For more information, visit http://www.lotny.org

Running time: one hour and 25 minutes without an intermission