Arnold Schönberg: Gurre-Lieder

A TV-recording of a performance of Schönberg's monumental composition on a text by J. P. Jacobsen.

A TV-recording of a performance of Schönberg's monumental composition on a text by J. P. Jacobsen about the tragic love between the Danish king Waldemar and his mistress Tove Lille, murdered by Queen Helvig.

Schönberg scored the Gurre-Lieder for a colossal apparatus: five vocal soloists, a narrator, men’s and mixed choirs, and a huge orchestra, made up of 25 woodwinds, 25 brass instruments, four harps, a celesta, 16 different percussion instruments (including iron chains) and an extremely large string section. Each performance of the Gurre-Lieder, a masterpiece with every detail worked out, is thus a truly overwhelming experience. This unique opportunity has been seized this time by the new chief conductor of the SOČR, Petr Popelka, who is also the chief of the Norwegian Radio Symphony Orchestra and who has brought his two orchestras together in this unique project. Popelka has established himself as one of the most beloved and in demand conductors of his generation. He will become Chief Conductor of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra with the 2024/2025 season.

After its world premiere in 1913, the Gurre-Lieder received its premiere in Bohemia on 9 June 1921 at the Prague State Opera House (former New German Theatre), under Alexander Zemlinsky. The gargantuan work thus returned to Prague's prestigious hall after more than 100 years.

Production Company Czech Television / Czech Radio
Genre Concert TV recording
TV Director Tomáš Šimerda
Distribution TV Czech Television
Camera Martin Kubala
Video format 16:9 HD
Duration 105 minutes
Production year 2023
Conductor Petr Popelka
Orchestra / Band Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Norwegian Radio Orchestra. Czech Philharmonic Choir of Brno, Slovak Philharmonic Choir
Soloist Waldemar: Michael Weinius, Tove: Susanne Bernhard, The Wood Dove: Štěpánka Pučálková, Peasant: Yngve Søberg, Klaus the Jester: Kevin Conners, Narrator: Dietrich Henschel