Customer Reviews

Anton Webern: Complete Works, Opp. 1-31

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

All 31 works that Webern gave official Opus numbers on 3 discs, conducted by Boulez (not Kolbe!), with the Juilliard Quartet and the London Symphony Orchestra, and a superb booklet with commentary and lyrics -- so why only 4 stars? My objection is the strictly chronological presentation, and the fact that I am not won over by Webern's vocal works -- I would vastly prefer grouping the music by form. Everything is brilliantly performed, and Charles Rosen, who accompanies sopranos on piano on several pieces, plays with sparkling luminosity. But the reason I sought out this collection is because I wanted to hear Boulez's versions of Webern's masterpieces, the "Symphony (Op. 21)" and "Variations for Orchestra (Op. 30)," as well as the string trios and quartets. Here these instrumental works are mixed among the lieders, Webern's many vocal works, and I find this frustrating. I prefer hearing the instrumental pieces grouped together, as on the Dohnanyi or Sinopoli discs of orchestral works (see my reviews of both), or the Schoenberg or Emerson Quartet's discs of the string trios and quartets (see my reviews of both). Unfortunately there is not a Boulez disc comparable to the Dohnanyi (on London) or Sinopoli (on Teldec). So it's either this Sony box or the several more recently recorded discs on DG, unless of course you are a total Webern fanatic and want the Ultra-Complete box with all the numbered AND un-numbered pieces...

It's really hard to fault this excellent Webern collection. Obviously if you have a more catholic appreciation of Webern's music than I (including the vocal works), my criticism is irrelevant. If you are a completist on a budget, this is a clear choice over the more expensive box. But if you are looking for an introduction to Webern's music, the best of which is some of the best of the 20th century in my opinion, I suggest that you begin with 1) Dohnanyi and the Cleveland Orchestra, and 2) the Schoenberg Quartet.

[There is a mistake on the site. Pierre Boulez is the conductor, not Helmuth Kolbe. Careful inspection of the box reveals that Kolbe was the engineer...]

Enter the world of Anton Webern... if you dare! If you are interested in the music of the New Viennese School, this collection is a must! Every primary work of the master of small forms himself, Anton Webern, is superbly performed and recorded in this collection under the exacting hand of Pierre Boulez, a quintessential modern Webern authority. When I first purchased this collection (on vinyl) in the mid 80's, I couldn't stop listening to it for a moment. Webern's Opus 1 'Passacaglia' is absolutely stupendous in its strident expression of violent passion and volatile climaxes. The early song collections, particularly Op. 3 and 4, are stunning gems of lapidary precision and balance. Webern speaks volumes in a few latticed phrases that other composers struggled all their lives to convey unconvincingly in gigantic opera and symphonies. From beginning to end this collection testifies to Webern's singular talent and ability as a craftsman of exceptionally refined musical forms. Without a doubt, Webern is a vocal composer par excellence. In a word, Webern is an aesthetic unto himself, unmatched and unmatchable by any composer before or since, in spite of all his admirers and imitators. Webern's music is the highpoint of human achievement in the world of art, and this collection proves loyal to its subject with impressive care. Definitely not for superficial music tastes.

It is hard to believe that the originals of these recordings are about 30 years old or so. The sound is very clear and precise without having a dry recorded-in-the-living-room sound. In fact, the Six Orchestral Pieces sounds clearer and sharper than some more recent recordings that I've heard. I do wish though that the accompanying booklet would comment more on the emotions and poetic themes in Webern's music. It is not all just about permutations of series. In fact, dwelling on these mathematical aspects of the music helps to perpetuate a stereotype about Webern's music having no emotional component at all. Anyone who listens sympathetically, however, most realize that the emotions in the music are intense indeed -- even overpowering to the sensitive and open-minded listener.

Anybody who cares about Webern will have to have this, even though it's not - as the title suggests - a complete Complete Works. It leaves out almost everything Webern wrote that didn't have an Opus number, including some very attractive early lieder. Still, it's a massive labour of love and is superbly mastered, with a useful booklet. The performances are almost all superlative, but while Boulez is a supremely intelligent conductor, he can be uncomfortable with full-throated emotion. At times, such as the respective finales of the fourth of the Sixth Orchestral Pieces and the arrangement of Bach's six-part fugue, Boulez subordinates dramatic effect to contrapuntal discipline. This is admirably austere of him, but it mutes the music. (A grander, more satisfying version of the fugue can be heard on Abbado's reading for DG.) Webern's mature compositional manner is that of a man walking a tightrope whilst carrying a vial brimming with Christ's tears - wild emotionality held in the most delicate balance - and Boulez is excellent during the tinier and more reticent moments. Which, this being Webern, all over the place. Every home should have this set - then we might have been spared Riverdance.

If you are looking for an introduction to Webern, give this a try. It has the advatage of being comprehensive and well played. If you don't like all of Webern, so be it. If you buy this recording and give it a few listenings you will have heard enough to make an informed judgement.

I have found that Webern's music demands mutiple hearings before you can say you've really heard it. When you are in the mood for some 20th century pioneering work, turn to this recording and listen. Over time, you will be glad you did.

Boulez has a well-deserved reputation for championing masterpieces of the Twentieth Century, through performance and recordings, and also for the consistently high quality of his concerts and recordings. Webern, one of the most influential composers of the century (unfortunately, not one of the most performed nor commercially successful in the concert hall or in the recording industry) gets more than a fair treatment from Maestro Boulez. I find the performances and interpretation to be superb, and the recordings to be quite good. Boulez and the performers bring out the texture and counterpoint of each score with great care, and the careful studiousness of some performances are well within the parameters of Webern's aesthetic. This is a must-have recording for anyone interested in contemporary classical music, and a very good study of expressionism, atonality, and serialism. One minor improvement: I would be quite interested in a companion disc - the complete (or a large number of the) unpublished works of Webern. I believe there is an audience for such a project.

I don't know if I "like" Webern, but he is certainly interesting and challenging. The textures of his music are very fragile and transparent. The pieces are extraordinarily economical (the average Webern piece, I would guess, is about two minutes in duration, maybe less). The dissonances are extreme (strange to say, twelve-tone music can vary in how dissonant it sounds, as some twelve-tone composers (Berg, for example) use "easier" tone rows as the bases of their works). Webern was a musician of great integrity, and he pushed twelve-tone music to the radical extreme (as compared his more conservative teacher, Schoenberg, and fellow-pupil, Berg.) Again, I don't know if it works, and I don't know if I like it. I will definitely continue to listen to it. What I definitely like is this wonderful recording, with performances lovingly rendered. For this reason, I'm giving the recording five stars. However, if you want an "easier" introduction to twelve-tone and atonal music, get Berg's Violin Concerto, or even Schoenberg's piano concerto. With respect to the Schoenberg piano concerto, Mitsuko Uchida's disc is wonderful, and is highly recommended.

Boulez has a DG recording, which I have several singles from that set. The DG is very good and recommended as a second set. This Sony recording is outstanding and the finest in my Webern collection. If you have this set , you still may want to look at the DG set. Why? Because this music is so wonderful, so that another experience is well worth the price of say $40. But if you have the DG set, you definetly want to keep that set and also get this Sony set.
Notice how few new Webern recordings are released. When conductors hear this set, I guess they feel its pointless to try to meet these standards. The artists here are all in excellent form and understanding of this extremely difficult but rewarding music.

When I first approached this CD, it was merely to 'fill out' the rest of my Webern collection. Because the CD was a release of old material, rather than 'top of the line' equipment of the 1990's, I expected to find some problems with the 'thin' sound of analog equipment. However, these performances trancend any such problems in their amazing precision and balance. The opus 21 'Symphony,' for example, is far more clear (the intricate detail is often obscured by muddy performances of this work) than in other recordings that I have heard. The percision of these performances opens new aural landscapes for the listener of Webern, giving one the ability to 'hear' all that you 'see' in the score. It is an additional bonus that all of his works are represented.

If one had to name two composers whose music set the course for the twentieth century, the names of Igor Stravinsky and Arnold Schoenberg would probably most quickly come to mind. But in another way, Anton von Webern, who was a student of Schoenberg, is even more significant. If Schoenberg blazed the path, then Webern took several steps further. These miniatures are in every way a fit sucessor to the First Viennese School of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert. The emphasis on form, precision and, in this case, concision, make these some of the most important works penned in the twentieth century. Pierre Boulez (himself a modern master and serialist) does great justice by them. In addition, we have such mid-20th century greats as the Juilliard String Quartet, Charles Rosen, Heather Harper, Gregor Piatigorsky, the John Alldis Choir and, of course (on the orchestral pieces), the LSO. Although these recordings may be or have been superceded in their interpretations, this is a collection that belongs in every music lover's library simply for its historic significance alone. The music itself will delight, astonish and broaden the perspectives of all who have an open heart and mind to receive it.