“Initiale”: First recording of the complete vocal works by Bernd Alois Zimmermann with Anna Prohaska

With the new WERGO production 'Initiale– Lieder und frühe Kammermusik' (‘Initals – Songs and Early Chamber Music’), the complete vocal works by the composer Bernd Alois Zimmermann are now available as a recording for the first time. The eleven songs were all interpreted by the renowned singer Anna Prohaska. The up-and-coming 27-year-old star currently captivates the opera world with her light and lyric soprano voice.

The CD title borrowed from the same-name song 'Initiale' is also programmatic for this recording because it contains not only Zimmermann's vocal works but also his early chamber music. Members of the Berlin Philharmonic, including the Trio Berlin, present Trio as well as – for violin and piano – Kleine Suite, Aria and Sonate.

Except for Sonate of 1950, all works compiled on this CD were created between 1939 and 1946. WERGO thus closes a gap in Zimmermann's repertoire and puts a focus on the beginning of the career of this great composer: Never had Zimmermann been as close to the neo-romantic tonal language as in his song compositions in which he set texts by Rilke, Klabund or Nietzsche among others to music. This genre – to which he never returned again – reflects both the expression of intimate feelings and his strong interest in literature.

Bernd Alois Zimmermann
Initiale – Lieder und frühe Kammermusik ('Initals – Songs and Early Chamber Music')
WER 6735 2 (CD)

• Drei Lieder aus dem Nachlass
• Kleine Suite for Violin and Piano
• Aria for Violin and Piano
• Fünf Lieder for Voice and Piano
• Trio for Violin, Viola and Violoncello
• Drei geistliche Lieder nach Texte von Ernst Bertram for Voice and Piano
• Sonate for Violin and Piano

Anna Prohaska: soprano / Cordelia Höfer: piano / Alessandro Cappone, Rachel Schmidt: violin / Trio Berlin

1. More information about this CD...

More information…

1. www.wergo.de
2. Profile of Bernd Alois Zimmermann