The old Chinese drama of courtroom and customs was usable only as raw material. In it's original version it is a fairly dull, wooden affair, handled extremely clumsily from the dramatic point of view. It is in effect inventing a Chinese fairy-tale. No strict Chinoiserie: it had to be as if in a dream of China. Klabund (1925) Two years after the death of Klabund, Zemlinsky decided to use his Chalk circle as the basis for an opera. He recast the five-act 'play after the Chinese' first into a two-act, later into a three-act version, and composed his Chalk circle in 1931/32. This blend of a fairy-tale Utopia, social criticism and inwardness makes itself felt in Zemlinsky's music, which seeks to combine varied stylistic components: Chinese coloration appears in the orchestral scoring, which is enriched with gongs and other exotic-sounding instruments: The melody often avoids semi tonal steps and so takes on a pentatonic character. It was the seventh and also his last completed opera, from which the then 61-year-old Zemlinsky hoped for the definitive breakthrough as an operatic dramatist.
1 Ich Bitte Untertanigst, Mich Vorstellen Zu Durfen
2 Meine Schwester Naht, Die Dammerung
3 Ich Habe Dich, Schwester, Gesucht
4 Am Ufer Hinter Weiden
5 Ich Bin Ein Abenteurer
6 Hier Ist Ein Stuck Kreide
7 Mein Name Ist Ma
8 Eine Neue Blume Im Garte Des Herm Tong
9 Prelude
10 Mein Name Ist Yu - Pei
11 Tschao - Hai Nennt Man Mich
12 Ich Bitte Platz Zu Nehmen
13 Nun Bin Ich Gegangen
14 Was Will Der Fremde Mann Am Zaun
15 Sie Sprachen Am Garten Zaun
16 Darf Ich Eine Frage An Meinen Herrn Richten
17 Sie Wollen Tee Trinken, Gnadiger Herr
- Disc 2 -
1 Prelude
2 Mein Name Ist Tschu - Tschu
3 Ich Bitte Um Vergebung
4 Vorsicht, Treten, Sie Nicht in Den Kreidekreis
5 Tschang - Haitang, Tochter Der Tschang
6 Wir Wollen Zu Diesem Punkt Vernehmen
7 Himmlisches Licht
8 Episode
9 Soldat, Du Bist Mein Kamerad
10 Hore Mich, Sturm!
11 Soldat, Du Bist Mein Kamerad
12 Hier Auf Den Stufen Meines Tribunals
13 Diese Dame Soll Ihren Mann Ermordet
14 Und Nun, Ihr Beiden Frauen
15 Mein Kind! Mein Kind!
16 In Jener Nacht
The old Chinese drama of courtroom and customs was usable only as raw material. In it's original version it is a fairly dull, wooden affair, handled extremely clumsily from the dramatic point of view. It is in effect inventing a Chinese fairy-tale. No strict Chinoiserie: it had to be as if in a dream of China. Klabund (1925) Two years after the death of Klabund, Zemlinsky decided to use his Chalk circle as the basis for an opera. He recast the five-act 'play after the Chinese' first into a two-act, later into a three-act version, and composed his Chalk circle in 1931/32. This blend of a fairy-tale Utopia, social criticism and inwardness makes itself felt in Zemlinsky's music, which seeks to combine varied stylistic components: Chinese coloration appears in the orchestral scoring, which is enriched with gongs and other exotic-sounding instruments: The melody often avoids semi tonal steps and so takes on a pentatonic character. It was the seventh and also his last completed opera, from which the then 61-year-old Zemlinsky hoped for the definitive breakthrough as an operatic dramatist.
