Dietrich Henschel & Oxalys

We journey back with Oxalys to the Vienna of 1920. In 1919, Arnold Schoenberg had established his 'Wiener Verein für musikalische Privataufführungen' to promote the modern repertoire. To avoid the additional expense of a large orchestra, Schoenberg and his colleagues gladly scaled down settings of symphonic works for small chamber ensembles. Transcriptions which, as Oxalys proves, still remain valid a little less than a century later. Amongst other works, you'll hear Max Regers 'Romantische Suite' and Mahler's 'Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen', both presented in a chamber version by Arnold Schoenberg. Much of the singing in Mahler's songs is by Dietrich Henschel, who has more than often proved able to deal with the dramatic quality of the work as well as its extreme tessitura. Zemlinsky's deafeningly beautiful 'Maeterlincklieder' and his 'Zwei Sätze für Streichquintett' are another workout for the vocal chords and the dexterity of the fingers.