SACKS?CO. lat fork &tuts March 21, 2012 Arts Jaw, egaua Isa. halm Dan Rom left, the. ingers David Pershali, Corey Rix and Lori Guitheou with OwAnwrioan Symphony Orchestra or CO/7legli Hall. From a Forgotten Composer, A Familiar Romantic Story It Is often clear why works that arts organizations might describe as forgotten gems have gathered dust. But Franz Schmidt's two-act opera "Na re Dame proved a VIVIEN worthy find during a vibrantcancers SCHWEIlltE performance by the Amencan Wade Symphony Orn vi(w chestra, conducted by Leon Botstein. on Sunday afternoon at Carnegie Halt The music of Schmidt. who was born in H74 in what Is now Bratislava, Slovakia, was overshadowed in his bfeume by that of late-Romantic composers, including Mahler Schmidt W lush khan, Like Zemlinsky's, was deemed dowdy in early-20th-century Vienna. and Schmidt's reputation was later tainted by his support for the Nazis. Schmidt's music has recently been championed by conductors including Franz Welser-Atelst and Fables Luigi, but has rarely teen performed outside Austria or Germany. The composer was a fine pianist and cellist vthosteselled composition with Bruckner In Vienna and was pnnetpal cellist in the Vienna Court Opera under Mahler's baton. His Hungarian heritage can be discerned in his scow for 'None Dame." which had its premiere in Vienna in 1914. Based on the Victor Hugo novel, with a libretto by Leopold Wilk, the work certainly has plenty of op ewatk ingredients: a beautiful Gypsy. a hunchback, a scorned spouse, love-struck ad427 west fourteenth street new york, sty 10014 I I miters, suicide and attempted murder. Grandly symphonic. the lush Romantic %Olt. which at times echoes &aims. Strauss and Wagner, features surmise orchestral interludes, swirling strings. vivid melodiesand hefty Snicknenan choruses, sung with panache here by the Collegiate Chorale. Valium:leitmotifs appear throughout. Including Liturgical music with organ for the Archdeacon, and rippling harp passages for F.saterakta. the kind and innocent Gypsy whose charms cause the down( all 01 her admire, N and her own death. The orchestra sounded in fine form, playing with a vigor and polish that conveyed all the dramatic arcs of this colorful piece. Some lengthy Wagnerian monologues are has effective, and there is on overlong love duel between Evnernkla and the officer Phoebus. But a east of strong singers helped make the case for this neglected work. The rich-voiced baritone Steplwn Powell sang with power and authority as the Archdeacon, and the bass Bunth Bilgth performed expressively as Quasimodo. Lori Guilbeau wielded her kwely soprano to fine d eth as Esmeralda. The baritone David Pershall, the tenors Robert Chain] and Corey Big, and the alto Mini Petty also sang well. Perhaps. as with the Zemin,- sky operas revival by Mr. Botstein, audiences will soon be able to enjoy a staged thoduction of 'Notre Dame I f I www.socksco.com EFTA01113080