Schreker 'Ausdruckstanz'

In 1907 two sisters, Grete and Elsa Wiesenthal, left the ballet corps of the Vienna Court Opera to devote themselves to the new realm of interpretive dance known as Ausdruckstanz. By 1908 they had many enthusiastic admirers, including Gustav Klimt, who invited the sisters to appear at the Kunstschau of 1908. The principal work of the Wiesenthals’ Kunstschau performances was a pantomime based on Oscar Wilde’s The Birthday of the Infanta with music commissioned from a then little-known composer by the name of Franz Schreker. The premiere on 27 June 1908 was an immediate success. Between 1908 and 1910 Schreker created six dance works that were either commissioned or inspired by the Wiesenthal sisters. This CD presents the first integral recording of the five works that survive.