With the new WERGO production "Initiale – Lieder und frühe Kammermusik" (Initials – Songs and Early Chamber Music), the complete Lied compositions by Bernd Alois Zimmermann are now available as a recording for the first time. The eleven songs were all interpreted by the adorable 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 eponymous 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.