Schreker: The Birthday of the Infanta Suite, Prelude to a Drama & Romantic Suite Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra & JoAnn Falletta

• Franz Schreker (1878 - 1934):
• 1 Prelude to a Drama 18:03
• The Birthday of the Infanta Suite:
• 2 I. Reigen 03:23
• 3 II. Aufzug und Kampfspiel 02:20
• 4 III. Die Marionetten 02:39
• 5 IV. Menuett der Tänzerknaben 02:08
• 6 V. Die Tänze des Zwerges 00:36
• 7 VI. Mit dem Wind im Frühling 01:59
• 8 VII. In blauen Sandalen über das Korn 01:45
• 9 VIII. Im roten Gewand im Herbst 01:31
• 10 IX. Die Rose der Infantin 02:43
• 11 X. Nachklang 01:20
• Romantic Suite, Op. 14:
• 12 I. Idylle 08:08
• 13 II. Scherzo 03:33
• 14 III. Intermezzo 06:41
• 15 IV. Tanz 06:45
• Total Runtime 01:03:34

Info for Schreker: The Birthday of the Infanta Suite, Prelude to a Drama & Romantic Suite

Franz Schreker was a prominent figure in early 20th-century Austro-German music, his reputation as an opera composer rivaling that of Richard Strauss. The Prelude to a Drama is the concert overture of Schreker’s acclaimed opera Die Gezeichneten, a lurid drama involving murder and madness. Conceived as a theatrical pantomime, The Birthday of the Infanta adapts Oscar Wilde’s tragic tale of an ugly dwarf who dies of a broken heart, while the Romantic Suite fully explores the composer’s colorfully detailed and translucent orchestration and lyrical expressiveness. The Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra dates back to the beginnings of music broadcasting in 1923. Since then it has developed its position to become one of Berlin’s top orchestras, and today is ranked in the highest echelon of German radio orchestras. JoAnn Falletta became the first female conductor to lead a major American ensemble upon her appointment as music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra in 1999.

Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra
JoAnn Falletta, conductor

JoAnn Falletta
serves as Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic and Virginia Symphony in the United States and Principal Conductor of the Ulster Orchestra in Northern Ireland. She has guest conducted over a hundred orchestras in North America, and many of the most prominent orchestras in Europe, Asia, South America and Africa and is the Principal Guest Conductor of the Brevard Music Center of North Carolina. Recipient of the Seaver/National Endowment for the Arts Conductors Award, winner of the Stokowski Competition, and the Toscanini, Ditson and Bruno Walter conducting awards, Falletta has also received eleven ASCAP awards and serves on the U.S. National Council on the Arts. A champion of American music, she has presented nearly five hundred works by American composers including over one hundred world premières. Her Naxos recordings include the double Grammy Award winning disc of works by John Corigliano and GRAMMY® nominated discs of works of Tyberg, Dohnányi, Fuchs, Schubert, and Respighi. For more information, www.joannfalletta.com

The Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra
(Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, RSB) dates back to the beginnings of music broadcasting in 1923. The orchestra’s chief conductors, including Sergiu Celibidache, Eugen Jochum and Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, have all helped to create the ensemble’s exceptional sound. Since its foundation, important composers such as Sergey Prokofiev, Richard Strauss and Igor Stravinsky have conducted the orchestra as well as promising young conductors such as Andris Nelsons, Vasily Petrenko, Jakub Hrůša and Lahav Shani. Alongside regular tours of Asia the orchestra also appears at German and European festivals. Since completing the ten-part Wagner cycle in 2013 the orchestra has secured its place among Europe’s top concert orchestras. From 2002 to 2015 Marek Janowski was chief conductor and artistic director of the RSB. Vladimir Jurowski has been named as his successor, starting in the 2017–18 season. The RSB is part of the Rundfunk Orchester und Chöre GmbH Berlin (roc berlin).

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