Customer Reviews

Schoenberg, Webern, Berg: Orchestral Works

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I don't always warm up to the Second Viennese School, but Simon Rattle has crafted an album that is highly persuasive. He has a real feeling for the beauty of these compositions, and his orchestra is trained to perform them to the last degree. His performance of Schoenberg's Five Orchestral Pieces is highly moving. Moods are created with a keen ear for sonority, and the entire emotional perspective is sumptuous and reflective. The booklet contains the English translations of Schoenberg's titles for each piece, and they can be followed very meaningfully. Webern's Six Orchestral Pieces are given with a rather different aesthetic, one that emphasizes orchestral pointillism over mood painting. In a strange way, Mozart came to mind. As for the Lulu Suite, this is the lushest performance I've ever heard. I grew up with LPs of the Suite by Ormandy and Abbado, but Rattle offers lucidity and warmth that seem new to me. Arleen Auger sings beautifully. The sound engineering throughout the CD is crystalline and full sounding. I am hardly an expert on the Second Viennese School, but I think very few people would be unhappy with this disc.

From all versions i got from the Lulu Suite this is the best i 've heard. rattle's tenderness and interpretation of the last movement ís great. every 20th century music lover must have this album. i higly recommend it.
rattle should make the complete opera

Simon Rattle has recorded a lot of 19th century music and most of the results have been dismal. There is little to recommend by Rattle in pre-20th century repertoire. A few Haydn symphonies, some pretty good Brahms, bits of Mahler, Ein Heldenleben by Strauss which is just at the cusp of the 20th century. Alright, so Rattle is not the conductor to go to for the great classics. However, when he records modern music, he seems fully in tune with it's sound and style, plus he has less competition on the market to boot.

Here is a collection from a trio of composers that seem forever destined to be tough nuts to crack as far as their music being loved and achieving mass exposure. They are never going to achieve popularity. At the same time, anyone with an open mind and open ears can be enthralled by the works contained here. Schoenberg's creepy, mysterious Five Orchestral Pieces, Webern's ethereal and far more compact Six Orchestral Pieces. Rattle plays them all with nuance and feeling. The real reason I bought this disc is the Lulu Suite and it's a breathtaking, haunting compilation from Berg's great modern opera. Arleen Auger is the soprano soloist and she scores great on all accounts. Her contribution is limited to two tracks, so people who are afraid of operatic singing need not worry. Rattle and his Burmingham orchestra are the true stars. Comparing directly Rattle's take on the Lulu Suite against Abbado's with the LSO on DG, I consistently find Rattle more involved, more refined and sharper when the music needs more violence. The digital recording by EMI is also expert and scores over DG's analogue sound for Abbado which lacks some atmosphere. Rattle made this record back in 1987-88 and it stands up to any competition on the market.

This collection of orchestral and opera pieces from Second Viennese School masters Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern and Alban Berg amply demonstrates why Sir Simon Rattle was offered the conducting position at one of Europe's most esteemed ensembles, the Berlin Philharmonic, after Claudio Abbado left. I'm not a great admirer of Rattle's and have not been supportive of most of the recordings I've heard from him. This one is a gem, however, one that improves with time and exposure. It is no wonder the Penguin Guide graded this a key recording with its highest score.

The reason for this adulation is that, compared to other recordings of this music, Rattle consistently finds elegance, refinement and depth of utterance where many other pound away at the surface elements of the pieces. While he lacks the supernatural understanding Jascha Horenstein (ASIN: B00000DMXX) demonstrates in Schoenberg and cannot quite muster the gumption Rosbaud found in the Berg and Webern, Rattle is far ahead of the likes of Levine realizing what's inside the music and communicating that to you.

The orchestral pieces find Rattle and the Birmingham orchestra in fine form and the Lulu suite features the late, great Arleen Auger. Note the way Rattle eshcews both bombast and hysteria in Schoenberg's Five Pieces and the elegance with which he translates the humanity of Webern's Six Pieces, a score that is often performed so cerebrally as to leave out the humanity. This is an outstanding collection at a great price that will help anyone, neophyte or seasoned collector, better understand what the Second Viennese School is all about.

What a fine recording this is! Having just come from a performance (Dudamel and the LA Philharmonic) of the Webern Op.10 Five Pieces for Orchestra (and being hungry for more) this recording embellishes the appreciation of the genius of Anton Webern. On this recording Sir Simon Rattle elects to perform the Opus 6 - Six Pieces for Orchestra - and the comparison between the "early" and "later" works gives a truly full picture of just how masterful these minimalist pieces are. Rattle draws impeccable clarity form the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and makes us wish that the Opus 6 was performed as often (!) as Opus 10.

The Schoenberg Five Piece for Orchestra Opus 16 are at the opposite end of the atonal scale in that they are for larger orchestra and suggest the seeds of his more widely applauded pieces that follow: it is interesting to note that the Opus 16 was written in 1909 whereas the premiere of the massively Romantic work 'Gurrelieder' was presented in 1913! Rattle is openly involved in the more sensuous lines of this 'atonal' piece.

But the chief reason for adding this disc to the library is the magnificent performance of Suite from Alban Berg opera 'Lulu'. Rattle finds all of the unearthly passion and decadence in this gorgeous score and adding the much missed soprano Arleen Auger in the vocal lines sung by Lulu polishes this suite for soprano and orchestra, making this recording of the suite at the top of the list for recordings of this lyrical suite. Bravo! Grady Harp, March 11