Good recordings of Schoenberg Monodramas
Adam Matlock
at the point where I'm able to flesh out my collection of recordings
and there's definitely a lot of work to do in that regard.
Specifically, recordings of Die Gluckliche Hand and Erwartung. I
wouldn't mind having to buy a copy of Wozzeck in order to get a decent
recording of Erwartung, since I know of at least two packages that put
the two works together.
Thanks in advance,
-Adam
david...@aol.com
Erwartung (1909) and Die Glückliche Hand (1910-1913) both stem from
the most interesting period in Schoenberg's development, the so-called
"expressionist" period before World War I, and -- one of the most
remarkable pieces of music ever written -- Erwartung is Schoenberg's
most original and extreme work as well as one of his more complex.
Composed in the white heat of inspiration in the barely credible span
of 17 days, Erwartung also marks an extreme point in the history of
Romanticism. It was written during a period when many artists
believed their vision could only be faithfully reflected with a
personal language freed of all conventions, and -- filled with
references to Liszt and Wagner -- Schoenberg's writings of this period
insist on the fundamental importance played by the role of inspiration
in the act of composition. Erwartung was composed without the
immediate safety net of any Harmonielehre (Harmony Book), of any known
music theory, although, of course, its language was extrapolated from
the late 19th-century and early 20th-century Austrian and German music
that Schoenberg had internalized, including his own earlier music.
The Schoenberg of Erwartung was a very different composer from the
more conservative giver of the law who would develop serialism and
return to classicizing neo-Brahmsian forms in the period after World
War I, and the language of Erwartung is extrapolated from the most
extreme passages in Wagner, both from Wagner's often brutal orchestral
textures and eerie orchestral colors and from his chromatic harmonic
language. In particular, the little scene of Mime's terror following
the Wanderer's departure in the first act of Siegfried was a precedent
for Schoenberg's terrifying full length portrait of guilt and terror.
Erwartung was very much a product of its time, a typical product of
the Austrian and German "expressionism" of the period before World War
I, and the expressionist painter Oskar Kokoschka had written a play
entitled, Murder, Hope of Women, the year before Schoenberg wrote
Erwartung. (Salome and Elektra were written in 1905 and 1908.) The
libretto of Erwartung was written by one Marie Pappenheim, who was a
student of Freud, and the libretto of Erwartung consists of the
ravings of a woman who has probably murdered her lover, suspecting him
of adultery. Erwartung [Expectation] is subtitled Angsttraum
[Nightmare], and we don't know whether we're experiencing the actual
events or the nightmare of a guilt-ridden murderess: in either case,
she experiences the events as real.
Boulez once described Erwartung's amorphous stream of consciousness as
"invention in a perpetual state of becoming." As he told an
interviewer when asked about Erwartung and Pierrot lunaire (1912),
"Erwartung really went much farther in combining all the formal
elements in a continuous line that is remarkably long for something as
chaotic as this twenty-five-minute work. It is very long, practically
continuous, and when you examine it closely, you see that it would be
very difficult to make any cuts: there is no point, or hardly any, of
stabilization. [...] Erwartung [...] is for me the prototype of a kind of
open form whose development is unknown, [...] a sort of rift in time, a
scrap of time that ends. The end of Erwartung always leaves people up
in the air, because, in effect, it is an end without conclusion."
-david gable
Adam Matlock
presentation on Schoenberg's monodramas.) What about recordings?
david...@aol.com
> What about recordings?
That's coming. Start with the wonderful Schoenberg discography
online. Here are URL's for Erwartung and Die Glückliche Hand:
http://www.usc.edu/libraries/archives/schoenberg/as_disco/works/017.htm
http://www.usc.edu/libraries/archives/schoenberg/as_disco/works/018.htm
-david gable
david...@aol.com
others. Still, there are some that I haven't heard that I'd like to
hear, including Scherchen's Wergo recording with Helga Pilarczyk, a
soprano who appeared under Scherchen in many performances of the work
and also recorded it with Robert Craft and Václav Neumann.
Erwartung (1909) is a classic example of the intense and disturbing
"expressionism" characteristic of so much of the Austrian and German
art of its period, and the woman in Schoenberg's monodrama has been
described as Isolde after a nervous breakdown. My strong preference
is for conductors rooted in the style of the period with an intense
affinity for the nightmare expressivity characteristic of the piece,
for performances attuned to Schoenberg's feverish and often even
hysterical expressivity. On records, Dmitri Mitropoulos, Hermann
Scherchen, and the Robert Craft of the Columbia Schoenberg series best
fit the bill. (Bruno Maderna and Hans Rosbaud probably would, too, if
there were recordings of performances with them conducting.)
Scherchen in particular was a fervent champion of Erwartung,
conducting numerous performances of it in the 1950's, at least four of
which have been preserved on records. I've got two of 'em.
Scherchen knew Schoenberg and led the world premieres of pieces by all
three of the Viennese composers. Robert Craft met Schoenberg not long
before Schoenberg's death as a young conductor fresh out of Juilliard,
and a note found among Schoenberg's papers reads, "Encourage Craft."
Craft deserves considerable credit for his championship of Schoenberg
and the whole Viennese school, and, when conditions were favorable, he
was more than capable of performances that were among the finest that
Schoenberg's works have ever received. For every disaster like the
inadequately prepared performance of the Four Orchestral Songs, Op.
22, in one of the Columbia Schoenberg boxes, there is an unmitigated
triumph like the splendid recording of Pierrot lunaire in the first
Columbia box. It and Boulez's first recording with Domaine musical
forces remain by far my favorite recorded performances of Pierrot.
(Sad to say that neither Craft's nor Boulez's later recordings of
Pierrot can begin to match these intensely earnest early recordings.)
I've already mentioned one of the four sopranos who's sung the
fiendishly difficult role of Die Frau in more than one recording of
Erwartung, Helga Pilarczyk. The other three also deserve special
mention: Magda Laszló, who sings in two of Scherchen's recorded
performances; Anja Silja, who has sung in countless performances of
the work and recorded it with both Dohnányi and Craft; and Phyllis
Bryn-Julson, who's recorded it with both Rattle and Gielen. Endowed
with the most ample and most beautiful voice of any of Die Frauen on
disc, Jessye Norman has sung it with Boulez and recorded it with
Levine.
Here's a quick run-down of the recordings I have.
Dorothy Dow; New York Philharmonic; Dimitri Mitropoulos
Recorded live, New York, 18 November 1951
CD: Sony Classical MH2K 62759 mono ADD (1997) (coupled with Wozzeck)
Mitropoulos has a thorough grasp of the idiom, and Dow is far more
accurate in Erwartung than Eileen Farrell in the Wozzeck it's coupled
with. Sad to say, the orchestral playing could be more secure. I'm
glad we have this souvenir of Mitropoulos's way with the piece, but
the scrappy playing here and there makes this recording more of a
document in the history of the reception of the piece than an entirely
viable performance.
Magda Laszló; Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra; Hermann Scherchen
Recorded Herkulessaal, Residenz, Munich, 21 April 1955
Orfeo C 274 921 B mono ADD (1992) CD
If proof were needed that Scherchen was made for this music, this is
it. I just listened to this recording again last night, and, every
time I hear it, I'm bowled over by how secure the orchestral playing
is, how palpable Scherchen's control. The orchestra really has the
style under its belt, playing with great intensity and understanding,
a stupefying achievement for a performance this early in Erwartung's
performance history: the Bavarians cannot have had that long a track
record with the piece, and much of the credit must go to Scherchen.
Ideally, Laszló's voice would be more powerful, but her performance,
too, is impressively secure. The recorded sound is fairly good for a
live recording of this vintage, which is another way of saying that,
if you're an "audiophile," you better look somewhere else.
Sinfonie-Orchester des Norddeutschen Rundfunks; Hermann Scherchen,
conductor Performed without soprano. Recorded Hamburg, 1959
CD: Arkadia CDGI 769.1 stereo ADD (1993)
Recorded without a soprano, this must have been recorded at an
orchestra rehearsal. Haven't heard it in a while.
Helga Pilarczyk, soprano; Washington Opera Society Orchestra; Robert
Craft
LP: Columbia M2L 279 (ML 5812/13) mono (1963)
LP: Columbia M2S 679 (MS 6412/13) stereo (1963)
This is still probably my favorite performance, warts and all. I can
imagine more virtuosically secure playing, but this performance is
certainly respectable in that regard, and Pilarczyk and Craft throw
themselves into it as if their lives depended on it. The recorded
sound is perfectly good early 60's analogue.
Helga Pilarczyk; Czech Philharmonic Orchestra; Václav Neumann
Recorded live, Prague, 19 May 1967
CD: Praga PR 250 082 stereo ADD (1996)
This is not quite on the same level or quite as secure as Scherchen on
Orfeo or Craft on LP, but it's a compelling live performance.
Pilarczyk's voice is no longer quite what it was just a few years
earlier under Craft or, presumably, even earlier under Scherchen on
Wergo, but Neumann's performance is cast from the same expressionist
mold as Mitropoulos, Scherchen, and the younger Craft.
Janis Martin; BBC Symphony Orchestra; Pierre Boulez
Recorded Henry Wood Hall, London, 14-15 April 1977
CD: Sony Classical SMK 48466 stereo ADD (1993)
Sad to say, this is the first recording I'd ditch if I had to get rid
of one. Turning in a palpably effortful and somewhat inaccurate
performance, Martin is simply not competitive. Boulez turns in a
reasonable enough performance, but this is not Boulez at his very
best. (Boulez wanted to rerecord Erwartung with Jessye Norman, but
CBS balked at rerecording the piece, just having released one with
Boulez and Martin.)
Anja Silja; Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra; Christoph von Dohnányi
Recorded September 1979
CD: Decca 417 348-2 DH2 stereo DDD (1988) CD (with Wozzeck)
CD: London 417 348-2 LH2 stereo DDD (1988) CD (with Wozzeck)
CD: Decca 448 279-2 DF2 stereo ADD (1996) CD (with various works of
Schoenberg conducted by Mehta or Dohnányi)
Silja could be said to have inherited the mantle of Die Frau from
Pilarczyk, and she's easily as effective in the role. Unfortunately,
both recordings of Erwartung with Silja capture her somewhat late in
the day, and parts of this performance are for Silja addicts only. I
wouldn't dream of parting with it, but it captures Silja at a fairly
late stage in her career, and there is significant wobbling on
sustained notes in the upper register. As for the orchestral playing,
this is by far one of the most secure performances on record, and
Dohnányi no doubt deserves a lot of the credit for it. He even has
some of the right expressionist instincts.
Dohnányi is the Michael Corleone of Schoenberg and Berg conductors:
he's deeply sympathetic to the expressionist style, but unlike an
earlier generation of godfathers, he views his responsibilities with a
greater professional detachment. Sinister but smooth and well
polished, he rolls out the smooth black carpet of sound he could
always produce in Vienna and Cleveland with a monomaniacal focus, and
his musicians play with an unprecedented accuracy and tightness of
ensemble. At the same time, nobody's hair gets mussed. Still, this
is a very impressive performance: I'd love to have heard the live
performances that preceded it.
My main reservations about this recording concern the recorded sound.
The early digital recording is far from ideal although a vast
improvement over what was accorded Gielen and Rattle.
Phyllis Bryn-Julson, soprano; City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra;
Simon Rattle
Recorded Symphony Hall, Birmingham, September-October 1993
CD: EMI Classics (7243) (CDC) (PM 518) 5 55212 2 (4) stereo DDD (1995)
Rattle seems to be leading a thrilling performance, and, although
she's positively lady like compared to Pilarczyk and Silja, Bryn-
Julson certainly knows the score. Unfortunately, this is the worst
early digital recording I've ever heard with weird disembodied
perspectives: you're always straining to hear what's going on and
trying to figure out which of your next door neighbor's bathrooms the
sound is coming from.
Anja Silja; Philharmonia Orchestra; Robert Craft
Recorded Abbey Road Studio 1, London, February 2000
CD: Koch International Classics 3-7473-2 H1 stereo DDD (2000)
Presumably slated for reissue on Naxos
This is a pretty good performance, and, if it were the only one I
knew, I'd probably be raving about it, but I prefer Craft's earlier
effort. Silja is Silja and further along the line than under
Dohnányi. Amazingly enough, I even prefer the recorded sound of Craft
1, which is dated but clear, to this digital recording. It's far from
the worst I've ever heard, but it's also far from the best, and you
still have the odd impression that each layer in the sound is somehow
enveloped in its own indeterminate space.
Phyllis Bryn-Julson; Sinfonie-Orchester des Südwestfunks, Baden-Baden;
Michael Gielen
Recorded Hans Rosbaud-Studio, Baden-Baden, July 1985
CD: Intercord INT 860.915 stereo DDD (1991)
CD: Accord ACC 201882 stereo DDD (1991)
I don't own this, and all I can remember is the terrible quality of
the recording, which sounds as if it were made under water. To quote
the review of a good friend of mine: "Glug glug."
Jessye Norman; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; James Levine
Recorded Manhattan Center, New York, April 1989
CD: Philips 426 261-2 PH stereo DDD (1993)
I don't own this one either. Gorgeously sung and played, it's the
dullest Erwartung on my list. I seem to recall the recorded sound
being pretty good.
Alessandra Marc; Staatskapelle Dresden; Giuseppe Sinopoli
Recorded live, Sächsische Staatsoper, Dresden, Germany, May 1996
CD: Teldec 3984-22901-2 stereo DDD (1999)
I've never been bowled over by Sinopoli's conducting, but I liked this
more than I thought I would.
In short, although I like all of them, out of these four recordings:
Mitropoulos (Sony)
Scherchen (Orfeo)
Craft (Columbia LP's)
Neumann (Praga)
my first choices would be Scherchen/Orfeo and Craft/LP's. In my
opinion, the Craft and Scherchen are accurate enough to be faithful
representations of the music while conveying the best sense of the
music's style. The orchestral playing under Scherchen is probably
more secure. As recorded sound, Craft's early 60's studio recording
is easier to live with. For me, Pilarczyk IS Die Frau.
As for the rest:
Boulez (Sony)
Dohnányi (Decca)
Rattle (EMI)
Craft (Koch, possibly Naxos)
Boulez is the most disappointing, Rattle by far the most disastrously
recorded. Dohnányi would probably be my first choice of the four,
although Rattle may be the wildest. Who could tell?
-david gable
Jon Alan Conrad
discussion, but: do you have any thoughts on the recording with Susan
Davenny Wyner, conducted by Weisberg, on CRI?
Thanks for all the good information.
JAC
david...@aol.com
> It seems greedy to ask, after such a thorough and informative
> discussion, but: do you have any thoughts on the recording with Susan
> Davenny Wyner, conducted by Weisberg, on CRI?
I was always curious to hear that one but never did. The only
performance with SDW I've ever heard was the first recording of
Elliott Carter's A Mirror on Which to Dwell.
-david gable
Jon Alan Conrad
different sort of voice from any other that's recorded the piece. All
the others are dramatic sopranos, either in size or in expressive
manner. Even Bryn-Julson, probably the closest, has a size and
brilliance about it. SDW's voice is more delicate, even girlish (or
boyish, as in Ravel's [i]L'Enfant[/i]). I can't imagine such a sound
in this role, given the scoring, but if it can be brought off it would
give the whole work an unaccustomed color.
JAC