Oskar Fried 1871-1941

[M. Henriksen]

Today I stumbled over a Capriccio-disc released in 2010 containing orchestral music of the German born conductor/composer Oskar Fried. Usually I notice releases of this kind, but not this one. Until today.

The disc has been reviewed by Michael Cookson at Musicweb, and the review has a link to some biographical information written by Lewis Foreman for the Delius Society:

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2010/Nov10/Fried_cap5043.htm

The CD itself, with excerpts can be found here:

http://www.amazon.com/Emigrants-Transfigured-Night-Fried/dp/B003T68VI0/ref=sr_1_4?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1301344216&sr=1-4

Fried had a close relationship to Gustav Mahler and it seems that his music also is influenced by the Austrian master.

So, as if the list of unsung music to explore wasn't long enough; here's another one!


Morten

[Mark Thomas]

I'm in the mood for something new, so thanks for pointing me in Fried's direction, Morten. I'm a total sucker for Hansel and Gretel, so his early Fantasy on that is enough to hook me. The MusicWeb review makes it clear that the other three works are altogether darker and they'll be tougher nuts to crack, but I always like to explore...

[M. Henriksen]

Weird that Fried's most successful work Das Trunkene Lied for chorus and orchestra is not included on this cd.


Morten

[Amphissa]

If I remember correctly, Fried's recording of Mahler 2 was maybe the first recording of any Mahler symphony and some songs  ? ? ? ?  Whatever, it was very, very early.

I own this CD and tried to listen to it a couple of times. Have not pulled it out in years. All I can say is, audio quality sux and the singing back in those days was nothing like today -- totally -- uh -- different.

Never heard anything written by Fried, though. That might be interesting -- if it is a more modern recording.

[eschiss1]

Recorded 2008 and 2009 according to the information I find (the CD is called Die Auswanderer), so has the disadvantage of 2-year-old recording technology. Gets obsolete so fast nowadays... (just attempting humor, not snarkiness. failing at  the humor, even, but attempting it. true that the technology gets obsolete so fast tho' )

(information I could have found even faster- if I'd gone and read the MusicWeb review linked to- but no, I went and had to go look somewhere else, which took rather more time - ow!)

[M. Henriksen]

If I remember correctly, Fried's recording of Mahler 2 was maybe the first recording of any Mahler symphony and some songs  ? ? ? ?  Whatever, it was very, very early.

The Musicweb-review says that Fried recorded Mahler's 2nd in 1924 with the Berlin Philharmonic.


Morten

[alberto]

Mahler Second by Oskar Fried is indeed the first recording (1928) of any Mahler Symphony (of course I except the piano rolls by Mahler himself of the first Movement of n.5 and fourth movement of n.4).
Naxos released it in 2001 together with a selection of ancient recordings of lieder, mostly in orchestral version, going back to 1915 (no other Fried recording); between them complete Kindertotenlieder cond. by Horenstein in 1928. Naxos, usually precise, cannot indicate the month, nor day or days, of Fried 's recording.
But again about the casualness of prices. I bought the double Naxos (in a shop, paying about 11, 00 €).
Years after I bought 8in a shop, as usually)  the same Fried in a little box of Membran Quadromania series: it contained also  Das Lied von der Erde (Schuricht, Amsterdam 1939) and the Eight Symphony (Stokowsky, New York, 1950): four records for about 5, 00 €.

[alberto]

Sorry, sometimes I misprint. The Fried was recorded in 1924.

[eschiss1]

Is even 1924 rather than 1923-1924, e.g., certain?

[Mark Thomas]

Out of curiosity I downloaded the CD's tracks.

When you fancy a wallow, Fried's early and high-romantic Fantasy on Themes from Hansel & Gretel is just the thing. But you'll  need a sweet tooth.  Mahler is the closest reference point for the other three pieces, all of which are from around 1900. The 9 minute Prelude and Double Fugue for strings is serious but I wouldn't describe it as profound. His Verklarte Nacht is a 10 minute orchestral song for mezzo and tenor and I thought it lovely in the way that most of Strauss' orchestral songs just wash over you with their lushness. The melodrama Die Auswanderer is nothing like as bleak as I feared it would be, but it is certainly angrier music and clearly in a rather more post-romantic style than the other works, although always tonal and accessible. My trouble is that my ear always focuses on the speaker in melodrama and the music is wasted.

Nothing on this CD is great music, but neither is it bad.

[u_li]

Weird that Fried's most successful work Das Trunkene Lied for chorus and orchestra is not included on this cd.


Morten

This is due to the fact that it is very much a complex piece that the producers couldn't organize to be recorded.
There are no current plans for a recording so far, but there will be a performance in 2015 by "das junge orchester NRW" (http://www.djo-nrw.de/Home.htm) which is planned to be recorded and broadcast by Deutschlandradio Kultur (which would make it available through its online stream).

[u_li]

Maybe this is a shameless plug, but I think it's appropriate to inform at this place:

Oskar Fried has also written about 70 minutes of songs with piano. A recording of them is expected to appear at Capriccio, with the singers who also have sung "Verklärte Nacht" on the older cd discussed in this thread.
And a revised edition of the songs has just gone to print: http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/0700340009/

[M. Henriksen]

Thank you u_li!

Morten

[ewk]

Hi all,
I only discovered Fried some days ago and I am quite impressed by his "Verklärte Nacht", and as I love Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel, I was very happy to discover that there is a longer orchestral suite than the 10-ish minutes of the original overture (which is itself a gem of course)!

The mentioned concert/recording of "Das Trunkene Lied" (Nietzsche, the same text that Mahler used in his 3d symphony, 4th movement) seems to have taken place, but only a description is available, the recording itself not anymore. It seems it was not published on CD, I at least cannot find it.
https://www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/das-junge-orchester-nrw-in-essen-oh-mensch.1091.de.html?dram:article_id=322010
It seems it was all amateur forces, but it seems to all that exists – did anyone happen to record or download the radio airing?
Best wishes,
ewk

[CelesteCadenza]

The mentioned concert/recording of "Das Trunkene Lied" (Nietzsche, the same text that Mahler used in his 3d symphony, 4th movement) seems to have taken place, but only a description is available, the recording itself not anymore. It seems it was not published on CD, I at least cannot find it. It seems it was all amateur forces, but it seems to all that exists – did anyone happen to record or download the radio airing?

I have a copy of this 25 May 2015 performance from the Philharmonie Essen. As I recall the performance is quite OK (University choirs and 'das junge orchester NRW'), but, in the end, I found that at 50+ minutes the work overstays its welcome. I will dust it off and listen to it anew and place in the Downloads section if there's interest.