Lazarus or Die Feier der Auferstehung, D 689, is an unfinished 1820 oratorio by Franz Schubert on a libretto by August Hermann Niemeyer. Intended to be in three acts, only act 1 with twenty-one numbers, and eight numbers from act 2 are extant.[1]
Structure
The work is for three sopranos, two tenors, bass, mixed choir and orchestra.
^The Gramophone – Volume 59, Issue 1, 1981: "Lazarus is an incomplete work by Schubert and Theodor Guschlbauer has recorded the work precisely as Schubert left it, ending at the very point where the master laid down his pen. A work of immense importance and content"
^Classic CD. 1996 – Issues 75–80 p. 165: "It was Rilling who instigated the completion of Schubert's Lazarus. And in doing so, Denisov has erected a new edifice without destroying the foundation. He develops Schubert's ideas leading to a contemporary, satisfying completion."