Arnold Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht; Chamber Symphony; Variations; 5 Pieces; 6 Songs; Erwartung

Arnold Schoenberg (Composer), Zubin Mehta (Conductor), Christoph von Dohnanyi (Conductor), Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra), Cleveland Orchestra (Orchestra), Wiener Philharmoniker (Orchestra), Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra), Anja Silja (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Anja Silja
• Orchestra: Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Wiener Philharmoniker, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
• Conductor: Zubin Mehta, Christoph von Dohnanyi
• Composer: Arnold Schoenberg
• Audio CD (October 14, 1997)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: London / Decca
• ASIN: B0000042DN
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #400,419 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Your 1-stop Schoenberg shop, November 25, 2001

By 

Scott Spires (Prague, Czech Republic) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Arnold Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht; Chamber Symphony; Variations; 5 Pieces; 6 Songs; Erwartung (Audio CD)

Here's a great collection of essential Schoenberg. The conductors, Mehta and Dohnanyi, are totally in their element here, and the playing (by 3 great orchestras) and sound are excellent throughout.

Some highlights: "Verklaerte Nacht," one of my all-time favorite sonic wallows, is given a slow, luxurious treatment, like a full-body massage. The thorny, hyper-modernist Variations Op. 31 sound romantic and colorful in Mehta's performance, with many layers of detail coming to the surface. The 5 Pieces Op. 16 also display a razor-sharp attention to detail within a pleasing, continuously evolving sound-picture. There's not a weak performance in the bunch. Far from sounding clinical, Schoenberg's lurid genius comes across with a passion that makes Mahler sound almost restrained.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Impeccable performances, and Decca's great sonics are a plus, December 11, 2007

By 

Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Arnold Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht; Chamber Symphony; Variations; 5 Pieces; 6 Songs; Erwartung (Audio CD)

As the other two reviewers point out, this is a matchless bargain, containing as it does some famous Decca recordings that either have been out of print or were attached to larger productions (the Anja Silja vocal works were a supplement to Dohnanyi's Wozzeck). The Mehta contributions date from almost 40 years ago but are in remarkably voluptuous, up-close sound, even by current standards. Mehta is what the British would call a "positive" conductor, meaning that he eschews tragedy, I suppose. His three contributions are almost sunny, in fact, and I doubt anyone has made a Verklarte Nacht with less angst and more sensuality--it's a knockout. Karajan has more to say in the Variations, but Mehta's surface sheen is easier to listen to.

Dohnanyi's approach to Schoenberg is cooler, more detached, and carefully detailed. You don't sense Mehta's ebullience, but Dohnanyi is to the manner born in any music from the Second Viennese School, and there's no doubt, either, that the Cleveland Orch. plays with much greater finesse than the Los Angeles Phil. As far as sound goes, Decca's engineers come through again with ultra-detailed, if somewhat distant recordings. Silja isn't in smooth voice, but she makes a strong dramatic impression in the gorgeously orchestrated post-Mahlerian songs. She is equally expressive in Erwartung, which ranks as possibly the best performance I've come across. IN all, this bargain two-fer has everything to recommend it.