Search - Alexander von Zemlinsky, Kent Nagano, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester :: Zemlinsky: Der König Kandaules

Alexander Zemlinsky's final and partly finished opera Der König Kandaules, based on Andre Gide's play, was composed in 1935-36 and completed by Anthony Beaumont in 1989. The work, involving voyeurism, betrayal, misuse of power and female vengeance, portrays the mighty but doomed King Kandaules, who loses both his wealth and his wife to Gyges, an uncouth but honest fisherman who exploits the powers of a magic ring. The opera is brought vividly to life in the critically acclaimed 2002 Salzburg Festival performance conducted by Kent Nagano with the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin. Memorable performances come from Robert Brubaker (King Kandaules), Wolfgang Schöne (Gyges) and Nina Stemme (Nyssia), who has recently received outstanding reviews in the international opera press. The 24 bit remastering recreates the atmosphere in the Kleines Festspielhaus and is complemented by a 164 page book complete with essays on the work and stage photographs of the performance! which took place on that historic Sunday evening of 28 July 2002."That the remarkable intensity of the score found such moving utterance was owing to a tremendous performance by the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester of Berlin under Kent Nagano, who here showed himself to be an exemplary Zemlinsky conductor." (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung)"...well cast and brilliantly welded into a coherent ensemble" (Süddeutsche Zeitung)