Schoenberg: Pelleas & Melisande/Scriabin: Symphony No.5

Amazon.com
Thick, complex orchestra scores were food and drink to Dimitri Mitropoulos, who sails through these demanding works with authority and an insight bordering on clairvoyance. The conductor maintains a firm handle on Scriabin's elusive syntax as Hambro darts in and out of the orchestral thicket like a firefly on the lam. Where's the wordless chorus? As for the Schönberg, Mitropoulos delivers the most gripping, emotionally charged Pelleas on record. Mirtopolous wields a more flexible hand than Boulez or Karajan, and imparts greater profile and shape to the work as a whole, as the leitmotivs take on unprecedented urgency and character. Excellent mono broadcast sound makes these 1953 concert performances easy to recommend. --Jed Distler.

Schoenberg: Pelleas & Melisande/Scriabin: Symphony No.5,Arnold Schoenberg,Alexander Scriabin,Dimitri Mitropoulos,Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra,Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra of New York,Music & Arts Program,20th/21st Century Symphony with Chorus,20th/21st Century Tone Poem/Symphonic Poem,Classical,Classical Music,Orchestral,Symphonic

Average customer rating: Schoenberg's Pelléas (Op. 5) The Last Great Work of the Nineteenth Century Delightful introduction to Schoenberg Breath-taking. Gorgeous, Lush Renditions of this Music of the Night

Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht, Pelleas und Melisande / Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Schoenberg | Schoenberg, Arnold | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Tone Poems | Theatrical, Incidental & Program Music | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music General Modern | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General Contemporary | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music Deutsche Grammophon: Music | Specialty Stores | Music Similar Items: Schoenberg, Berg, Webern: Orchestral Works / Karajan Arnold Schoenberg: Serenade/Five Pieces For Orchestra Schoenberg: The String Quartets Schoenberg: Piano Concerto Berg: Violin Concerto; Schoenberg: Piano Concerto; Violin Concerto ASIN: B000006141 Release Date: 1998-03-17

Tracks:

1. Verklarte Nacht Op.4: Grave
2. Verklarte Nacht Op.4: Molto rallentando
3. Verklarte Nacht Op.4: Pesante
4. Verklarte Nacht Op.4: Adagio
5. Verklarte Nacht Op.4: Adagio
6. Pelleas und Melisande Op.5: Die ein wenig bewegt
7. Pelleas und Melisande Op.5: Heftig
8. Pelleas und Melisande Op.5: Lebhaft
9. Pelleas und Melisande Op.5: Sehr rasch
10. Pelleas und Melisande Op.5: Ein wenig bewegt
11. Pelleas und Melisande Op.5: Langsam
12. Pelleas und Melisande Op.5: Ein wenig bewegter
13. Pelleas und Melisande Op.5: Sehr langsam
14. Pelleas und Melisande Op.5: Etwas bewegt
15. Pelleas und Melisande Op.5: In gehender Bewegung
16. Pelleas und Melisande Op.5: Breit

Customer Reviews:

Schoenberg's Pelléas (Op. 5).......2007-07-21

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Maeterlinck was and remains an unique and important poetic/literary/theatrical innovator in the categories of Symbolism and proto-Surrealism. One must appreciate just how avant-garde his work was at the Fin de Siécle. Even now his work retains its interest because of his abstraction of the human condition into a disoriented or dreamlike state. At its most basic, the interest of Pelléas et Mélisande is the human dilemma of a woman's love for a man. Maeterlinck's synthesis of connotative and denotative language distilled into elliptical phraseology continues to fascinate. He was, of course, awarded the Nobel Prize in 1911.

Debussy strongly considered setting Maeterlinck's earlier play La Princesse Maleine, but in the end settled on Pelléas. At the same time in Berlin, Strauss suggested Schoenberg set Pelléas: as there was no good German translation, he decided upon a massive tone poem. If you can psychically step back enough, you may hear just how similar in ethos Schoenberg's Pelléas (Op. 5) is with his Transfigured Night (Op. 4): really very similar indeed, with their topics of distressed feminine sexuality and hapless masculine guilt.

P.S. The Magritte-ish cover art is spectacular!
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The Last Great Work of the Nineteenth Century .......2007-06-01

Transfigured Night (Verklarte Nacht) is one of the great post-romantic works of the close of the nineteenth century. Though originally scored for string sextet, the far more popular version is an orchestral arrangement, which is what is on this CD. Written in 1899 by an only 26 year old Arnold Schoenberg, it features the pathos of Wagner, the intensity of Mahler, and the brooding darkness of Rachmaninov's uncompromisingly grim Isle of the Dead. Along with other masterpieces of the early Schoenberg, Pelleas and Melisande and the Gurrelieder, Transfigured Night stood on the cusp of the breakdown of tonality but was written prior to Schoenberg's development of the twelve-tone system. It is one of the great masterpieces of late post-romanticism and I, for one, fine it superior to what Mahler and Strauss were doing at the time. The piece simply explodes with passion -- but not of the trite or cloying variety (Schoenberg is not Puccini, after all). The introduction alone should be enough to hook you, with its dark lines that ultimately rise to an emotional climax that has rarely been reaches outside of Wagner.

It is unfortunate that Schoenberg chose to develop 12-tone serialism, the most obvious negative consequence of which is that he never again wrote anything that even the most informed classical music aficionados would actually want to listen to with such frequency as Transfigured Night. Yes, I am aware that musicologists maintain that the post-romantic, post-Wagnerian idiom had reached a dead end and new directions were needed. This is of course true, and it is a challenge to which many outstanding composers such as Debussy, Bartok, Janacek, Szymanowski, and Stravinsky (to name only a small handful) responded to in different and creative ways. (Others such as Richard Strauss went far beyond the limits of tonality and then retreated to it after the spectacle of Salome and Elektra.) But from the hindsight of a century, it now seems clear that Schoenberg's path was the most misguided of this group from the standpoint of what the human ear can reasonably be expected to tolerate, let alone enjoy. Gustav Mahler was correct to proclaim that his "time would come." It clearly has come and now Mahler's remarkable symphonic oeuvre is widely appreciated. But I have serious doubts that Schoenberg's time will ever come (outside of Moses and Aron). Total serialism (which only got more difficult and inaccessible with the Darmstadt School) is nearly unlistenable even to the largely initiated. The human ear requires at least some pattern, some degree of repetition, something to latch on to. It does not have to be the sonata form or the Wagnerian Leitmotif, but there must be some pattern(s) for the ear and the mind to recognize so that music is distinguishable from chaos. (Janacek, for instance, solved this problem in an original way with his short melodic and harmonic bits and thereby created a wonderful new idiom, one that is very listenable.)

This review is therefore in part a lament at white might have been. I do not blame Schoenberg for thinking that the end was near for traditional tonality. But total serialism did not follow logically from this, as many came to believe. What is most unfortunate in all of this is that Schoenberg's early works are some of the most extraordinary of their time. Had he pressed forward with the expansion and breaking of tonality but not developed his rather ideological 12-tone system, there may have been many more wonderful works such as Transfigured Night - works that people might actually want to listen to.

Karajan's performance has all the gravitas and power that one expects from him at his best (like his Bruckner cycle). I am sure that his Pelleas is also wonderful, but I have an earlier release of this version of Transfigured Night, which did not come with Pelleas, so I will not review it here.

Delightful introduction to Schoenberg.......2006-12-30

I bought this album in the hopes of acquiring some more "modern" music, because all my other music was (mostly) from the Romantic/Classical/Baroque eras. So I picked up this nice album since I had heard of Schoenberg and wanted to hear his music. Besides, I had watched Debussy's 'Pelleas et Melisande' not too long before and was curious to hear another musical interpretation.

I was not disappointed in any regard. Despite the fact that this is an analog recording, it hardly shows its age. Deutsche Grammophon's acoustics have always been good, and shine here with incredibly lush clarity.

The Berlin Philharmonic is top notch, as always, at the absolutely masterful hands of Karajan. This was my first experience listening to Karajan conducting an early 20th century piece, so it was exciting to hear another aspect of his conducting.

If you're new to Schoenberg, this is probably the best place to jump in and get a feel for his early (pre-war) music. If you like R. Strauss, Wagner, Mahler, and other late/post-Romanticists, you'll probably enjoy this as well.

5 stars.

Breath-taking........2006-12-10

What so many people don't realize is that Schoenberg was indeed a brilliant composer. When he wrote in a tonal language, it was simply wonderful. You can tell, even in these quite-tonal works, that he is leading toward something incredible. Something that would change music forever.

Listener be warned, this is not shocking avant-garde twelve-tone Schoenberg - this is lush music that is so very reminescent of Wagner - while at the same time, distinctly different. Some of the most beautiful music ever written in my opinion.

And on to the performance. Karajan was perhaps the primo authority on Schoenberg having been a part of the Second Viennese School of twelve-tone serialism. It was the music of "his generation", and he knew this music all very well having studied and prepared it for years. He was at a very unique place in music history.

This recording is ground-breaking in that he acheives balances and colors that are lush to the utmost! I wouls say this is as close to perfect as one could get!

A wonderful recording, from the repertoire, to the interpretation, to the performance, to the recording. Bravo!

Gorgeous, Lush Renditions of this Music of the Night.......2005-12-18

Schoenberg is an interesting case in the history of music.
He was a man unsatisfied with the status quo, was highly talented and someone who wholeheartedly believed in the modernist manifesto of progression, artistic progress as well as any other forward movement. Don't get mired in recreating the past, always move forward. That is the essense of modernism, that and very cunning intelligence and complexity for it's own sake. Any true artist can tell you that art is not technology, art is not inherently more significant because it's more modern and complex. Art deals with immaterial things, while technology and science deal with very much material matters. So what has the modern credo given us when applied to music? Atonalism, Serialism, Aleatoric chance music, electronic music, all of it not bad as ideas, it's the execution that has been so off. Schoenberg was responsible for quite a stir in music but the music that made such a stir has never been popular and will never even be acknowledged as true art by 99.9 percent of the human population. If the Second Viennese School were derided back then, it's understandable, if they're still derided even now, you know there must be something fundamentally wrong with the Atonal and later Serialist methods of composition.

It must be said that Schoenberg was not always someone obsessed with getting himself historical relevancy and this CD proves that point. The works presented here are not revolutionary in the modernist sense, they point toward that horizon but are not yet there. That is why they are two of the most beautiful works by Arnold Schoenberg. Beautiful is not an adjective used often in reference to Mr. Schoenberg.

In Verklarte Nacht, aka Transfigured Night, Schoenberg is fully in tune with the world of Wagner, Brahms and R. Strauss without being in any way derivative of those geniuses. He is his own man utterly and completely. This five movement work is a delight to the ear and to the heart. The large tone-poem Pelleas and Melisande is a tour-de force of an homage to Richard Strauss. It's a bit heavy going perhaps, over written and dense and will prove more problematic listening than Transfigured Night.

You must truly give praise to Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic. Karajan himself financed the original 4LP set of records devoted to Schoenberg, Webern and Berg in the mid 70's. These two poems are wonderfully remastered and presented here in all their glory. Transfigured Night creates great admiration in the hands of Karajan, drawings the most shaded, luminous sounds imaginable from his orchestra. These are the greatest strings in the world, no doubt about it. The recorded sound is among the best I've ever heard Deutsche Grammaphon provide Karajan with. Pelleas and Melisande is just as successful, if not as lushly recorded. Both these recordings are definitive statements.

It really is a wonder to listen to Verlarte Nacht to commune with true beauty, instead of the compositional rhetoric that Schoenberg would later adopt in works like Variations for Orchestra.

Buy this CD and be thankful for the genius of Karajan, who can present these works in the spirit they were written, not in the cold, more abstract, mechanical methodology of Pierre Boulez for instance. Of course that approach may work for you too but you would be missing a lot if you denied yourself the chance to experience Karajan working at the height of his powers, a wonder to behold!

Average customer rating: Suberb recordings of early Schoenberg

Schoenberg: Pelleas & Melisande, Verklarte Nacht Sinopoli , and Philharmonia Orchestra Manufacturer: Eloquence/Universal ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Classical | Styles | Music ASIN: B00004Z34C Release Date: 2005-07-08

Tracks:

1. Pelleas Et Melisande, Op.5
2. Verklarte Nacht, Op.4

Customer Reviews:

Suberb recordings of early Schoenberg.......2007-07-10

I still remember a few years back when Sinopoli died , I think during a concert if memory serves correct. I, like all of his numerous admirers, was greatly saddened. When I was a teenager just getting into Mahler, my first versions of Mahler 2, 5, and 6 were Sinopoli's versions with the Philharmonia Orchestra. I did get to see Sinopoli in concert once as well, with the Staatskapelle Dresden. It was a great concert of music by Richard Strauss and a rousing encore of Rienzi Overture.

In any case, I must admit that I missed the Schoenberg recordings presented here on their first release. I was so happy when I discovered that Sinopoli had recorded these works, and I immediately ordered the disc. If anything, I was more delighted by these recordings than I had expected to be. I encourage both seasoned collectors and novices to hear these wonderful performances.

Average customer rating:

Schoenberg: Pelleas und Melisande/Webern: Passacaglia Manufacturer: Koch Int'l Classics ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Schoenberg | Schoenberg, Arnold | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Webern | Webern, Anton von | ( W ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Tone Poems | Theatrical, Incidental & Program Music | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Eschenbach, Christoph | ( E ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Houston Symphony Orchestra | ( H ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General Contemporary | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music ASIN: B000001SIN Release Date: 1995-10-24

Tracks:

1. Pelleas Und Melisande, Op. 5
2. Passacaglia

Amazon.com

Maurice Maeterlinck's mysterious play about love between two people who have absolutely no idea who they are and what they're doing (or why) exercised an extreme fascination on composers at the turn of the century. Debussy wrote an opera on the subject, and both Fauré and Sibelius composed music for the original play. Schoenberg wrote this Straussian symphonic poem in 1905, well before he "went atonal"; and while its opulence and harmonic density caused a scandal at the premiere, it has since become one of the composer's best-known and, yes, even most popular, works. Christoph Eschenbach has a special way with "hothouse" music like this, and he turns in a performance of extraordinary communicative power that's very well recorded to boot. --David Hurwitz

Average customer rating: Schoenberg before he turned serial, but the performances are dissappoiting

Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht; Pelleas und Melisande Manufacturer: EMI Classics ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Quartets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Brahms | Brahms, Johannes | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Schoenberg | Schoenberg, Arnold | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Tone Poems | Theatrical, Incidental & Program Music | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music General Modern | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General Contemporary | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music ASIN: B000HWZARE Release Date: 2006-11-21

Tracks:

1. Sehr Langsam - English Chamber Orchestra
2. Etwas Bewegter - English Chamber Orchestra
3. Schwer Betont - English Chamber Orchestra
4. Sehr Breit Und Langsam - English Chamber Orchestra
5. Sehr Ruhig - English Chamber Orchestra
6. Anfang - New Philharmonia Orchestra
7. Heftig - New Philharmonia Orchestra
8. Lebhaft - New Philharmonia Orchestra
9. Sehr Rasch - New Philharmonia Orchestra
10. Ein Wenig Bewegter - New Philharmonia Orchestra
11. Langsam - New Philharmonia Orchestra
12. Ein Wenig Bewegter - New Philharmonia Orchestra
13. Sehr Langsam - New Philharmonia Orchestra
14. Etwas Bewegt - New Philharmonia Orchestra
15. In Gehender Bewegung - New Philharmonia Orchestra
16. Breit - New Philharmonia Orchestra

Tracks:

1. Langsam - Sehr Rasch - Sir Simon Rattle
2. Feurig - Hauptzeitmass - Ruhiger - Sehr Rasch - Sir Simon Rattle
3. Viel Langsamer - Fliessender - Schwungvoll - Hauptzeitmass - Sir Simon Rattle
4. Etwas Ruhiger - Steigernd - Hauptzeitmass - Sir Simon Rattle
5. I. Allegro - City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
6. II. Intermezzo. Allegro Ma Non Troppo - City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
7. III. Andante Con Moto - City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
8. IV. Rondo Alla Zingarese. Presto - City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

Customer Reviews:

Schoenberg before he turned serial, but the performances are dissappoiting.......2007-02-24

As often as they've been told of Schoenberg's revolutionary genius, most concert goers don't get past his tonal music, which in fact was great in its own right. Here we get all the masterpieces, save the Five Orchestral Pieces, before the big break into serial music. But as tempting as this bargain two-fer looks, the individual performances don't maintian high quality. On CD 1 Barenboim's early Verklarte Nacht, in the orchestral version, is lush but sludgy. Barbirolli's Pelleas and Melisande, a real detour for this arch-traditionalist, is warmly played but nowhere near Boulez or Karajan for polish and drama.

CD 2 starts off with a big improvement, the young Simon Rattle's First Chamber Sym. in a reading that's everything one could ask for, with the exception of virtuosity. He's lucky, however, since there are few recordings with major orchestras. Count this the best thing on either disc. CD 2 ends with a surprisingly tepid reading by Rattle of Schoenberg's rollicking, rather oddball transcription of the Brahms Piano Quartet #1 in G minor, which needs a lot more verbe and commitment than we get here. In all, this seems to be a grab bag thrown together by EMI to market recordings that long ago died in the vaults.

Average customer rating: A great purchase for new fans modern music powerful showcase of the last century Best Single Collection of Modern Music

Pierre Boulez ~ Schoenberg · Berio · Carter · Kurtág · Xenakis Arnold Schoenberg , Luciano Berio , Elliott Carter , Gyorgy Kurtag , Sir Harrison Birtwistle , Gerard Grisey , Iannis Xenakis , Hugues Dufourt , Brian Ferneyhough , Pierre Boulez , Ward Swingle , Regis Pasquier , Phyllis Bryn-Julson , Adrienne Csengery , Istvan Matuz , and The Swingle Singers Manufacturer: Elektra / Wea ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Octets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music Septets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music Berio, Luciano | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Carter | Carter, Elliott | ( C ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Schoenberg | Schoenberg, Arnold | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Concertos | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Tone Poems | Theatrical, Incidental & Program Music | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Symphonies | Forms & Genres | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Variations | Forms & Genres | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Oboe | Reeds & Winds | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Classical | Box Sets | Stores | Music ASIN: B000005EDU Release Date: 1995-06-06

Tracks:

1. Pelleas Und Melisande - Chicago Symphony Orchestra
2. Introduction - Chicago Symphony Orchestra
3. Theme - Chicago Symphony Orchestra
4. Variation I - Chicago Symphony Orchestra
5. Variation II - Chicago Symphony Orchestra
6. Variation III - Chicago Symphony Orchestra
7. Variation IV - Chicago Symphony Orchestra
8. Variation V - Chicago Symphony Orchestra
9. Variation VI - Chicago Symphony Orchestra
10. Variation VII - Chicago Symphony Orchestra
11. Variation VIII - Chicago Symphony Orchestra
12. Variation IX - Chicago Symphony Orchestra
13. Finale - Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Tracks:

1. I - Regis Pasquier
2. II - O King - Regis Pasquier
3. III - In ruhig fliessender Bewegung - Regis Pasquier
4. IV - Regis Pasquier
5. V - Regis Pasquier
6. Eindruke - Orchestre National De France

Tracks:

1. Concerto Pour Hautbois - Pierre Boulez
2. Esprit Rude/Esprit Doux - Pierre Boulez
3. Anaphora - Pierre Boulez
4. Argument - Pierre Boulez
5. Sandpiper - Pierre Boulez
6. Insomnia - Pierre Boulez
7. View Of The Capitol From The Library Of Congress - Pierre Boulez
8. O Breath - Pierre Boulez
9. Penthode - Pierre Boulez

Tracks:

1. Messages De Feu Demoiselle R. V. Troussova - Adrienne Csengery
2. For 16 Voices And 3 Instrumental Groups - Pierre Boulez
3. Modulations - Pierre Boulez

Tracks:

1. Jalons - Pierre Boulez
2. Antiphysis - Istvan Matuz
3. Version I - Pierre Boulez
4. Version II - Pierre Boulez

Amazon.com essential recording

Collecting five CDs for about the price of three, this set of Boulez recordings is without parallel among the conductor's new-music releases. Imagine getting Boulez's celebrated single CD of Luciano Berio's Sinfonia and Eindrücke and his equally impressive single CD of Arnold Schoenberg's Pelleas und Melisande and Variations for Orchestra, bundled with four pivotal Elliott Carter works, Sir Harrison Birtwistle's electrifying ...AGM..., Gérard Grisey's Modulations, Iannis Xenakis's Jalons, Hugues Dufourt's Antiphysis, and Brian Ferneyhough's Funerailles, and you have an idea how far this set stretches.

There are the uproarious moments of Berio's clattery free-for-all approach easily juxtaposed against Schoenberg's more measured Variations, as it illuminates the crossroads of serialism and standard classical methodologies. The most astonishing moments come in the Kurtag songs, themselves echoing Pierrot Lunaire, and the Birtwistle work, which crosses extended vocal patterns with exclamatory orchestral interruptions to great effect. For anyone interested in Boulez's conductorly contributions to the postserial world, this is a surefire collection that opens the window on the great one's magic with difficult, thorny music. It also serves as a fascinating primer on the expansion of new music's techniques, especially when you consider the Elliott Carter works, all of them post-1975 and each uniquely expanding the American canon immeasurably, or the Grisey, Dufourt, and Ferneyhough works, as each of these composers came of age in the post-World War II era. --Andrew Bartlett

Customer Reviews:

A great purchase for new fans modern music.......2001-04-02

I just started getting into modern music a few years ago and this set was one of the best purchases I have made so far. It introduced me to several of my now favorite composers, as well as starting me off with a top-notch recording of their work. The $10 per CD price is very good for contemporary music (which usually runs closer to $20 for a CD). The music covers several composers in much greater depth than your average sampler, and every CD in the set would make a great individual purchase. In addition to the content, the recording quality and performance on each track is uniformly flawless. If you are new to avant-garde music, think of this set as an introductory greatest hits compilation that will remain a treasured purchase no matter how big your collection gets. If you're an experienced contemporary music collector you probably bought this CD as soon as you saw the names on it and the price.

powerful showcase of the last century.......2000-04-10

I concur this is the only place to find these masterworks, not all but the Carter pieces,Penthode I know of no other recording. This is a marvelously opaque like work, somewhat dry, Carter's penchant utilization of a rhythmic cell passed around the rather dry sounding ensemble. Especially exciting here is Antiphysis by Hughes Dufourt,a French composer philosopher who is quite outspoken on carrying the torch of European post serial modernity. This work is a veiled flute concerto,largely in two seamless movements where the soloist is simply part of the forever trmoili textures the first half of the work, blizzards of flute tones are conveyed,large doses of fluttertonguing,fast filigreed moments. At times the chamber ensemble seems to engulf powerfully the soloist knocking it out of commission and at times Dufourt with incredible surges of timbre. This is a surface piece of incredible power, long stridently sustained chords, like the internal tension of a suspension bridge, You are waiting for something to snap, it doesn't. The percussion moments in this work as well create great waves and impeccably controlled thunderous roars to stop on a dime. You would never know this piece is actually a miniature flute concerto. The flute lines tossed into all registers with colourful again fluttertonguing, wisps and long scale-like lines. Dufourt is not a prolific composer.So this is a rare treat.

Boulez's residencies with The Chicago Symphony over the past ten years has produced a few profound gems from the Post Romantic world,one not entirely his, and Schoenberg's tone poem 'Pelleus und Melisande' in one of them.This is an early post Wagnerian score double the legth of his equally successful 'Transfigured Night'.Unless you know the motives Herr Schoenberg had utilized from the original Maeterlinck play,the work engulfs one as one colossol tone poem/commentary on the wanderings and below the surface anxieties of the union of this pair of lovers,who never quite get it.Schoenberg as Debussy had visions of the darkest moments of the Maeterlinck with rounded timbral orchestrations. Boulez holds a taut reins here and controls this arduously long work with great vision. It's dark colours and thick textures are all balanced properly. You never sense the works length,it moves,lumbers into its moments quite well and when it hunkers down finally on an old fashion minor chord it is arresting.Chicago plays this music as no other,music written for them, with there overdosed,overexposed repertoire of post Romantics from the Solti Years. They put this expereince to its test in the 'Orchestral Variations' also of Schoenberg, a much later work from his brief year spent in Berlin in 1930, a time when he had full confidence in his visions for the dodecaphonic language. Boulez also enjoys this work with a full spectrum of shapes to lend direction from chamber like moments of some of the variations to discreet solos and duets emanating from the orchestral forces to full bodied statements. This is quite an achievement for this newly found language. But you can see Schoenberg moving into these untenable,new regions. For the isolated sense of expressionist colour seems to have been forsakened here,abandoned for a larger homogeneous one. If you know his 'Five Pieces for Orchestra',you sense an entire universe of difference.As if Wagner now has returned to haunt him. The Ensemble Intercontemporain bring a real sense of immediacy to the Ferneyhough, 'Funerailles',a score scaled down to 2 Violins, 2 Violas, 2 Cellos, Doublebass and Harp.It's in the same gestural habitation of the Dufourt, large textural plains,regions of tremoli,punctuated freely.You may not recognize Ferneyhough here this is an early work with large gestures,not the finely attenuated approach to structuring and shaping timbres as you might find for instance in his 'Etudes Trancendental' or the string quartets. Without the Harp here to punctuate the one-dimensional string timbre produced here this work would indeed have been tedious and bland. The right amount of penetrating timbre is here to give the work the thornyness it deserves.If you are a Xenakis fan then his Jalons (steps) here is for you. This is music about the density and timbre transformations. Almost like standing in front of an industrial contraption waiting for it to turn off or break down or heat up.Blast furnace like timbres and strident whistles are here.

Best Single Collection of Modern Music.......1998-12-21

Listen--this set is actually a great buy, though it may seem like too much of an investment. But for your 45 bucks you get five discs (only $9 per disc), and it has to be one of the best collections of modern music ever, played by Boulez' spectacular group, Ensemble InterContemporain. Look at what you get: Schoenberg's Variations for Orchestra (his most beautiful serialist composition); Berio's Sinfonia (a contemporary classic); Carter's Oboe Concerto, Mirror on Which to Dwell, and Penthode (for Carter fans, the disc is a must, since it's currently the only place you can get the concerto and Penthode, both essential Carter); Kurtag's Troussova (searing), Birtwistle's AGM (powerful, mysterious), Ferneyhough's Funerailles (electric), and Xenakis's Jalons (one of his best). For one purchase, you'll find yourself right in the thick of modern music.

Average customer rating:

Schoenberg: Pelleas & Melisande / Berg: 3 Pieces from the "Lyric Suite" Berliner Philharmoniker , and Herbert von Karajan Manufacturer: Polygram Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD ASIN: B00000E3XW Release Date: 1990-10-25

Average customer rating: Making Schoenberg easier to hear Excellent recording and performance Deep unfinished darkness, and floating spaces. Another Excellent CD From A Great Young Conductor Another hit

Christian Thielemann - Schoenberg: Pelleas & Melisande ~ Wagner: Siegfried-Idyll Arnold Schoenberg , Richard Wagner , Christian Thielemann , and Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Schoenberg | Schoenberg, Arnold | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Wagner | Wagner, Richard | ( W ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Romantic | Symphonies | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Tone Poems | Theatrical, Incidental & Program Music | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music Deutsche Grammophon: Music | Specialty Stores | Music Similar Items: Strauss - Eine Alpensinfonie ~ Rosenkavalier Suite / Wiener Phil., Thielemann Bruckner: Symphony No. 5 Keeping Score: Revolutions in Music - Stravinsky's Rite of Spring Mahler - Symphony No. 7 / Claudio Abbado, Lucerne Festival Orchestra Arnold Schoenberg: Serenade/Five Pieces For Orchestra ASIN: B00004YZ34 Release Date: 2000-11-14

Tracks:

1. Pelleas und Melisande op. 5: Die ein wenig bewegt - zogernd
2. Pelleas und Melisande op. 5: Heftig
3. Pelleas und Melisande op. 5: Lebhaft (Rehearsal number 9)
4. Pelleas und Melisande op. 5: Sehr rasch (16)
5. Pelleas und Melisande op. 5: Ein wenig bewegter (33)
6. Pelleas und Melisande op. 5: Langsam (36)
7. Pelleas und Melisande op. 5: Ein wenig bewgter (43)
8. Pelleas und Melisande op. 5: Sehr langsam (50)
9. Pelleas und Melisande op. 5: Etwas bewegt (55)
10. Pelleas und Melisande op. 5: In gehender Bewegung (59)
11. Pelleas und Melisande op. 5: Breit (62)
12. Siegfried - Idyll

Amazon.com

Schoenberg's Pelleas & Melisande is just Opus 5 in Schoenberg's catalog, but it comes right on the cusp of the young composer's transition to serialism. Based on Maurice Maeterlinck's stage play, it's an exuberant, youthful work that won the 29-year-old composer the recognition he had yet to receive. The work shows some influences of Richard Strauss, who had befriended Schoenberg in 1901 in Berlin. Mahler is also present. Still, for all that, this work is sui generis, a stand-alone masterpiece. It's followed by Wagner's Siegfried-Idyll, a tone poem based on the birth of his son, Siegfried. Both works are moody tone poems and maestro Christian Thielemann lovingly captures their spirit. Boulez might give Schoenberg more drama, but Thielemann sculpts both works with rounder edges and softer textures. Highly recommended. --Paul Cook

Customer Reviews:

Making Schoenberg easier to hear.......2007-05-12

The oung Thirleann was taking on two musical giants--Karajan and Boulez--when he made this recording of Schoenberg's immense, complex tone poem Pelleas und Melisande. Wioth hindsight it's hard to undestand how so many composers went wild for Maeterlink's play, which holds no interest today except as the basis for the music it inspired from Debussy, Schoenberg, Faure, and many more. Although a relative novice at composition, the 29-year-old Schoenberg here displays his enormous intellect and a taste for weaving a rapestry of inner detail that is nearly impossible to follow by ear. True, there are actual leitmotifs to identify the main characters and events in the play, but evey they are difficult to follow.

Karajan and Boulez offered readings that brought out as much of Schoenberg's counterpoint as humanly possible, and for that reason, along with the astonishing virtuosity of the Berlin Phil. and Chicago Sym., their recordings far outclass this one. But Thielemann has one advantage: he simplifies the work by emphasizing its sweep and downplaying its inner workings. In a sense he's made Schoenberg easier to follow, and for that I was grateful. If it weren't for his two great rivals, this recording would probably eke out five stars. The Siegfried Idyll gets a nice performance that is in no way memorable.

Excellent recording and performance.......2005-04-01

I have a few recordings of P & M and this is probably the best.

This is such a vast piece with huge orchestra and lots of inner parts, etc. and this recording brings them out very well. The performance is great too: nice and over the top where it counts.

The Siegfried Idyll is done well too.

Deep unfinished darkness, and floating spaces........2002-08-23

Schoenberg had moved to Berlin in December 1901 with a position emanation from the Uberbrettl cabaret and stayed until 1903, and the writing of Pelleus und Melisande came to dominate these excursis, this exergue to something. I don't know if the mountainous orchestration of Gurrelieder had helped this creativity.One needs to free oneself from creative burdens not impose them continually.
In retrospect in these gargantuan works,I find Schoenberg's utilization of stark contrapuntal lines,(here however impacted in dense orchestrations)and as manifested in the subsequent piano music to be the most interesting,his timbral focus for the new dodecaphonic language to come,was quite fascinating as the "Five Pieces for Orchestra"where lines function around contrapuntal unfoldings and timbral lacunae. It is always fascinating to see where the epistemologic creative seeds reside,the concept of destiny, and fate was, recall please a working premise of the post-romantic spirit. As Arnold Hauser said someplace that there is no product of modern art,no emotional impulse to modern man/woman,that does not owe some debt to romanticism,its delicacy, and conception to the exhuberance, the anarchy and violence of modern art," its drunken stammering,lyricism,its unrestrained,unsparing exhibitionism is derived from it" where themusic may become nourished.
Certainly Maeterlinck's dramatic encrustations( a time Freud was well into numerous studies,1901-1905) saw this penumbral darkness as a starting canvas for modernity,for the unexplained, the trace as Derrida said some decades subsequent. Pelleus here has long captured the spirit of this transitional period with Debussy and Sibelius and Schoenberg as well his suitable imagination and with Richard Strauss still in his blood chose eight of the fifteen scenes, this dark symbolic drama of lechery,obsession,aging,love,brooding penumbral dimensions. This voyage also sees creative parallels in Melisande's Wanderings, as the wiorking image for Schoenberg's latter 'Erwartung' to come. The Tower scene of Melisande combing her long 12 foot hair; Hair as a sexual metaphor in those days of infinite boundless pleasure, desire. Alban Berg's analysis from 1920 reveals how the work distributes theses motives freely very much like a free floating timbral canvas of motivic associations. Gilles Deleuze had thought of Wagner's 'Ring' in similar ways, as free floating leitmotiv All within these various motives scattered graciously throughout this long impacted lumbered work have this melodic sweeping character,and all lend a deeply lyrical gesture assuming differing traces of instrumental colours, as the, Solo Violin,walls of brass, and English Horn. Thielemann has no trouble with this full cathedral timbre which I thought it was at first too predictable and overbearing, too lead heavy leading one's sensibility to unwanted wanton darknesses.Illumination should also be a point of reference here.Melisande's unknown innocence perhaps,her foible naive constitution as a constrast to the brooding darkness which pervades the work.
But where does the work reside? The Boulez with The Chicago Symphony as well I found, you may find a greater telescoping of the work's dimensions, where it feels more compact than it actually is.Boulez's genius is that he always reveals another way,an alternative to tradition.
Berg's analysis again points to the work the structure as a Sonata Symphony. But Schoenberg thought it something else. Who knows what. Like the quip on pregnancy, either you are, or are not. Schoenberg recall had advised the young Berg, that his 12 Tone Opera(Wozzeck) had no chance of success. But Schoenberg always had harbored structural problems he had no way of solving, and here in Pelleus he had no great convictions of the amount of return of the distributive motives necessary for structural coherance.This is why shorter durational forms as his pathbreaking 'Pierrot' and again the piano music discovers incredibly frutiful lands to occupy. Let me gently bash just one more time. Schoenberg had no means to finish 'Moses und Aron' either, was it a testament to what is known, or what should be known. It is this incompletedness, this opaque creativity of indescision which I in fact find the most fascinating aspect of Schoenberg's creativity. That he set before himself conceptual durational problems he had no way to resolve.

The Wagner Idyll here Theilemann makes it float as well,downgrading the Wagner penchant for conviction of rhythmic purpose. It is a work far more to do with space than I once had known. Again the Berlin musicians bring their typical seemless bottom to top timbral conception.
But Theilemann does hold the reins quite taut, quite strongly which then gives his Berlin players enough conceputal space to breath.

Another Excellent CD From A Great Young Conductor.......2001-12-01

Christian Thielemann's recording of these works by Schoenberg and Wagner should further enhance his reputation as one of the foremost interpreters of late 19th Century/early 20th Century German Romantic music. Both are spellbinding performances of these tone poems, played with ample grace and warmth from the Deutsche Oper's pit orchestra. Thielemann's interpretation of Schoenberg's tone poem, is more lush than Boulez's, opting to emphasize the Romantic ties which bind the early Schoenberg to predecessors such as Wagner and Mahler. Still, it is a truly original composition which foreshadows Schoenberg's interest in atonal music. The sound quality is exemplary, no doubt due to the splendid acoustics of the same studio used by Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic in many of their classic 1960's and 1970's recordings.

Another hit.......2001-05-31

Schoenberg is not normally a composer that I have much time for, but Thielemann and the Orchestra of the German Opera in Berlin certainly shave off a few of his rougher edges. I can't say that I am now won over by Schoenerg, but I am willing to explore further. The album is well played and recorded. The Wagner too is very well presented.

I am becoming more and more impressed by Thielemann. His love of the German repertoire shows.

Average customer rating:

Faure: Pelléas et Mélisande, suite for orchestra Op80 Manufacturer: Sony ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Fauré, Gabriel | ( F ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Schoenberg | Schoenberg, Arnold | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Sibelius | Sibelius, Jean | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Incidental Music | Theatrical, Incidental & Program Music | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Tone Poems | Theatrical, Incidental & Program Music | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Theatrical, Incidental & Program Music | Forms & Genres | Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music Classical Music | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music ASIN: B00000270L Release Date: 1991-01-14

Tracks:

1. Pelleas et Melisande: Beginning
2. Pelleas et Melisande: Heftig
3. Pelleas et Melisande: Lebhaft
4. Pelleas et Melisande: Sehr rasch
5. Pelleas et Melisande: Sehr langsam
6. Pelleas et Melisande: Sehr langsam, gedehnt
7. Pelleas et Melisande: Ein wenig bewegter
8. Pelleas et Melisande: Langsam
9. Pelleas et Melisande: Ein Wenig Bewegter
10. Pelleas et Melisande: Sehr Langsam
11. Pelleas et Melisande: Langsam
12. Pelleas et Melisande: In Gehender Bewegung
13. Pelleas et Melisande: Breit
14. Pelleas et Melisande: Act 1, Scene 1
15. Pelleas et Melisande: Act 1, Scene 2
16. Pelleas et Melisande: Act II, Scene I
17. Pelleas et Melisande: Act V, Scene II
18. Pelleas et Melisande: Prelude
19. Pelleas et Melisande: Andantino Quasi Allegretto
20. Pelleas et Melisande: Sicilienne. Allegretto molto moderato
21. Pelleas et Melisande: Molto Adagio

Average customer rating:

Sir John Barbirolli. Sibelius Symphony No.7 / Schoenberg Pelleas & Melisande (Intaglio) Manufacturer: Intaglio (Import) ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD ASIN: B00008F89L Release Date: 1994-12-06

Average customer rating:

The Romantic Music of Schoenberg: Verlärte Nacht; Pelleas und Melisande Manufacturer: Telarc ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Sextets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Schoenberg | Schoenberg, Arnold | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Tone Poems | Theatrical, Incidental & Program Music | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General Contemporary | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Atlanta Symphony Orchestra | ( A ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music CDs $7 - $10 | Classical General | Classical | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music All Bargain Titles | Classical General | Classical | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music 4-for-3 Classical | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music 4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music ASIN: B000003D0B Release Date: 2002-09-24

Tracks:

1. Sehr Langasm
2. Etwas Bewegter
3. Schwer Betont
4. Sehr Breit Und Langsam
5. Sehr Ruhig
6. Anfang
7. Sehr Rasch
8. Ein Wenig Bewegt
9. Sehr Langsam

Track Listings:

1. Sketches in Jazz
2. Sonatas for Flute & Harpsichord 2
3. Sonatas for Violin & Piano, Sonatensatz
4. Strauss: Daphne
5. Strophes of the Night & Dawn
6. Tchaikovsky: Symphonies Nos. 4, 6 & 5/Overture 1812
7. The Age Of Purcell
8. The Italian Voyage
9. The Making of a Medium: Music Written for the Verdehr Trio, Vol. 3
10. The Making of a Medium, Vol. 2

Track Listings

track listings

Track Listings

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Schumann: Symphonic Etudes Op13; Kreisleriana Op16

The Big Soul of John Lee Hooker [Original recording remastered]

Mongo at the Village Gate [Live]

So High

Take Two

Special Delivery [Import]

Rimsky-Korsakov: Symphony No.1/Symphonic Suite

Tombstone Every Mile

Swing Time, Vol. 1

Spaceship Zero

Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia [Import]

Sky Diaries: Mixed By Nick Luscombe

Daddy's Prayers

The Hang