ERNST KRENEK (1900-1991): Karl V, Op. 73, Kehraus um St. Stephan, Op. 66.

Description: Karl V - (Dietrich Henschel [baritone], Chariklia Mavropoulou [mezzo], Nicola Beller-Carbone [soprano], Camerata Silesia, Vienna Symphony Orchestra; Lothar Koenigs. 16:9 widescreen, 5.1 Dolby Digital or 2.0 PCM Stereo. 140 min.) 16:9 widescreen, 5.1 Dolby Digital or 2.0 PCM Stereo. 140 min.), Kehraus um St. Stephan - (Roman Sadnik [tenor], Albert Pesendorfer [baritone], Andrea Bogner [soprano], Kornmarktchor, Voralberg Symphony Orchestra; John Axelrod. 16:9 widescreen. 2.0 PCM Stereo. 148 min. NTSC, region 0.). Karl V (1934), described as a "stagework with music", consists of flashbacks of events in the life of the titular character (the Holy Roman Emperor), in response to which theological and ethical debate goes on in the foreground. This was Krenek's first 12-tone opera and he uses the alientating effect of the music to articulate many of the unreproducable aspects of the emperor's dilemma. Kehraus um St. Stephan (1930) was Krenek's last tonal opera, its language still exhibiting the influence of his Schubertian song-cycle Reisebuchs aus den österreichischen Alpen, set just after the First World War, and dealing with the political and social crisis in Vienna.