Notes and Editorial Reviews
SCHOENBERG
Herzgewächse.
1
Pierrot lunaire.
2
4 Orchestral Songs.
3
Chamber Symphony No. 1
4
•
Robert Craft, cond;
1
Eileen Hulse (sop); London SO;
1
Anya Silja (Sprechstimme);
2
Twentieth-Century Classics Ens;
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class="SUPER12">2,4
Catherine Wyn-Rogers (mez); Philharmonia O
3
•
NAXOS 8.557523 (73:51)
These four recordings were made from 1994 to 1998, when Craft’s Schoenberg series was being recorded by Koch. At least two of them—
Herzgewächse
and
Pierrot lunaire
—appeared on Koch CDs. The former is written for “high soprano,” which is an understatement; I don’t have a score, but it seems to probe the entire octave above high C (well above, say, the Queen of the Night), as well as exploiting the normal soprano range. Hulse makes smooth, well-rounded sounds at the top end, but they sound more instrumental than vocal. That effect may be merely the listener’s aural experience: we are not prepared to recognize a voice at such heights.
Silja brings a surprisingly fresh voice to
Pierrot lunaire
(I saw her Salome at the Vienna Staastoper in 1967). In the spoken/sung conundrum that is
Sprechstimme
, she tilts toward singing. The Twentieth-Century Classics Ensemble is loaded with stars: for
Pierrot
: Christopher Oldfather, piano; Michael Parloff, flute/piccolo; Charle Neidlich, clarinet/bass clarinet; Rolf Scholte, violin/viola; and Fred Sherry, cello. The playing is superb, instrument by instrument, but the whole is too smooth, too steady; the slashing wit and the terror of this extraordinary work do not come through. There are places where it’s more appropriate for strings to screech and winds to squawk.
The
Four Orchestral Songs
are rarities on or off disc; I know them only from Yvonne Minton’s recording with Boulez, and I don’t believe they appeared in Craft’s early “The Music of Arnold Schoenberg” for Columbia. Composed in 1916, these songs are surprisingly harmonious for music lacking a tonal center. The differences between the two recordings are primarily in the accompaniments: Craft’s Philharmonia plays the music in a strict, forthright manner, whereas Boulez’s BBC Symphony is mellifluous and distant, more closely matching the poems of loneliness and memories. My preferences seem to depend on my mood of the moment.
Freed from having to support a vocalist, Craft loosens up in the Chamber Symphony, and his ensemble of stars delivers vital, exhilarating playing. The lush, sweet acoustics of the Recital Hall at the SUNY Purchase Performing Arts Center in Purchase, New York, smooth out Schoenberg’s 15 individual lines, making the ensemble sound more like a conventional orchestra. It’s pleasant to hear but belies the composer’s revolutionary one-instrument-on-a-part scoring. Nevertheless, a great performance.
The downside of this disc is its lack of vocal texts,* so important for
Pierrot lunaire
and the little-known songs. Naxos’s program notes go on for eight-and-a-half pages, so space is not the problem. One simply must have texts here, as does the Minton/Boulez Four Songs on Sony. Of the many available
Pierrot lunaire
recordings which offer German/English texts, I recommend Jan DeGaetani on Nonesuch or Lucy Shelton on Bridge, a disc which also includes
Hergewächse.
* Music Editor’s note: Texts are available on the Naxos Web site, but in German only; search for catalog no. 8.557523 and click on the Lyrics link.
FANFARE: James H. North
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Works on This Recording
1.
Herzgewächse, Op. 20 by Arnold Schoenberg
Performer:
Eileen Hulse (Soprano)
Conductor:
Robert Craft
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Symphony Orchestra members
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1911; Vienna, Austria
Venue: EMI Abbey Road Studio no 1, London, Engl
Length: 3 Minutes 31 Secs.
Language: German
Notes: EMI Abbey Road Studio no 1, London, England (05/28/1994 - 05/29/1994)
2.
Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21 by Arnold Schoenberg
Performer:
Anja Silja (Soprano)
Conductor:
Robert Craft
Orchestra/Ensemble:
20th Century Classics Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1912; Vienna, Austria
Date of Recording: 1997
Venue: American Academy of Arts and Letters, Ne
Length: 36 Minutes 30 Secs.
Language: German
3.
Orchestral Songs (4), Op. 22 by Arnold Schoenberg
Performer:
Catherine Wyn-Rogers (Mezzo Soprano)
Conductor:
Robert Craft
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Philharmonia Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1913-1916; Vienna, Austria
Length: 13 Minutes 32 Secs.
Language: German
Notes: EMI Abbey Road Studios, London (07/1998); EMI Abbey Road Studios, London (10/1998)
4.
Chamber Symphony no 1 in E major, Op. 9 by Arnold Schoenberg
Conductor:
Robert Craft
Orchestra/Ensemble:
20th Century Classics Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1906; Vienna, Austria
Date of Recording: 09/16/1998
Venue: Performing Arts Center, SUNY, Purchase,
Length: 20 Minutes 20 Secs.
Sound Samples
Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: Part I: No. 1. Moondrunk
Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: Part I: No. 2. Columbine
Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: Part I: No. 3. The Dandy
Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: Part I: No. 4. An Ethereal Washerwoman
Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: Part I: No. 5. Chopin Waltz
Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: Part I: No. 6. Madonna
Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: Part I: No. 7. The Sick Moon
Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: Part II: No. 8. Night
Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: Part II: No. 9. Prayer to Pierrot
Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: Part II: No. 10. Theft
Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: Part II: No. 11. Red Mass
Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: Part II: No. 12. Gallows Song
Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: Part II: No. 13. Beheading
Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: Part II: No. 14. The Crosses
Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: Part III: No. 15. Homesickness
Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: Part III: No. 16. Vulgarity
Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: Part III: No. 17. Parody
Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: Part III: No. 18. The Moonspot
Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: Part III: No. 19. Serenade
Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: Part III: No. 20. Homeward Bound
Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: Part III: No. 21. O Ancient Fragrance
4 Lieder, Op. 22: No. 1. Seraphita
4 Lieder, Op. 22: No. 2. Alle, welche dich Suchen
4 Lieder, Op. 22: No. 3. Mach mich zum Wachter deiner Weiten
4 Lieder, Op. 22: No. 4. Vorgefuhler
Chamber Symphony No. 1, Op. 9 (original version)
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