Berliner Philharmoniker Herbert von Karajan - Schoenberg, Berg, Webern: Orchestral Works (3CD) (1997)
Artist: Berliner Philharmoniker Herbert von Karajan
Title: Schoenberg, Berg, Webern: Orchestral Works
Year Of Release: 1997
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Genre: Classical
Quality: FLAC (image+.cue,log,scans)
Total Time: 03:01:12
Total Size: 861 mb
WebSite: Album Preview
Tracklist: Title: Schoenberg, Berg, Webern: Orchestral Works
Year Of Release: 1997
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Genre: Classical
Quality: FLAC (image+.cue,log,scans)
Total Time: 03:01:12
Total Size: 861 mb
WebSite: Album Preview
CD 1:
Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951):
01. Pelleas und Melisande. Die ein wenig bewegt - zogernd [0:04:29.12]
02. Pelleas und Melisande. Heftig [0:03:06.33]
03. Pelleas und Melisande. Lebhaft. [0:03:59.25]
04. Pelleas und Melisande. Sehr rasch. [0:07:12.55]
05. Pelleas und Melisande. Ein wenig bewegt. [0:01:21.50]
06. Pelleas und Melisande. Langsam. [0:03:22.25]
07. Pelleas und Melisande. Ein wenig bewegter. [0:04:08.42]
08. Pelleas und Melisande. Sehr langsam. [0:04:43.13]
09. Pelleas und Melisande. Etwas bewegt. [0:02:22.40]
10. Pelleas und Melisande. In gehender Bewegung. [0:02:27.35]
11. Pelleas und Melisande. Breit. [0:06:22.45]
12. Variations for Orchestra. Introduktion. Mabig, ruhig. [0:01:44.37]
13. Variations for Orchestra. Thema. Molto moderato. [0:01:06.38]
14. Variations for Orchestra. Variation I. Moderato. [0:01:09.00]
15. Variations for Orchestra. Variation II. Langsam. [0:02:03.05]
16. Variations for Orchestra. Variation III. MaBig. [0:00:46.70]
17. Variations for Orchestra. Variation IV. Waltzertempo. [0:01:12.45]
18. Variations for Orchestra. Variation V. Bewegt. [0:02:08.10]
19. Variations for Orchestra. Variation VI. Anadante. [0:01:33.35]
20. Variations for Orchestra. Variation VII. Langsam. [0:02:56.17]
21. Variations for Orchestra. Variation VIII. Sehr rasch. [0:00:35.20]
22. Variations for Orchestra. Variation IX. L'istesso tempo; aber etwas langsamer. [0:00:57.03]
23. Variations for Orchestra. Finale. MaBig schnell. [0:06:11.20]
CD 2:
01. Verklarte Nacht, op.4: Grave [0:06:35.20]
02. Verklarte Nacht, op.4: Molto rallentando [0:05:50.62]
03. Verklarte Nacht, op.4: Pesante [0:02:23.38]
04. Verklarte Nacht, op.4: Adagio [0:10:22.67]
05. Verklarte Nacht, op.4: Adagio [0:04:41.63]
Alban Berg (1885-1935):
06. Pieces for orchestra, op.6: Praludium. Langsam [0:05:29.50]
07. Pieces for orchestra, op.6: Reigen. Anfangs etwas zogernd - Leicht beschwingt [0:05:32.00]
08. Pieces for orchestra, op.6: Marsch. Massiges Marschtempo [0:10:11.50]
09. Pieces from Lyric suite: Andante amoroso [0:06:42.00]
10. Pieces from Lyric suite: Allegro misterioso [0:03:30.00]
11. Pieces from Lyric suite: Adagio appassionato [0:07:08.25]
CD 3:
Anton Webern (1883-1945):
01. Passacaglia for orchestra, op.1 [0:12:17.25]
02. 5 Movements, op.5: Heftig bewegt [0:02:40.67]
03. 5 Movements, op.5: Sehr langsam [0:02:05.03]
04. 5 Movements, op.5: Sehr lebhaft [0:00:43.05]
05. 5 Movements, op.5: Sehr langsam [0:01:28.00]
06. 5 Movements, op.5: In zarter Bewegung [0:03:28.50]
07. 6 Pieces for orchestra, op.6: Langsam [0:01:09.50]
08. 6 Pieces for orchestra, op.6: Bewegt [0:01:31.50]
09. 6 Pieces for orchestra, op.6: Massig [0:01:01.47]
10. 6 Pieces for orchestra, op.6: Sehr massig [0:04:20.70]
11. 6 Pieces for orchestra, op.6: Sehr langsam [0:02:51.20]
12. 6 Pieces for orchestra, op.6: Langsam [0:02:11.63]
13. Symphony, op.21: Ruhig schreitend [0:06:45.57]
14. Symphony, op.21: Variationen. Sehr ruhig [0:03:28.18]
Performers:
Berliner Philharmoniker
Herbert von Karajan – conductor
The surprising thing about these three discs is that the performances get better the further we depart from the shores of Romanticism and tonality. Not what you'd expect from von K and the Berliners.
Pelleas benefits from wonderfully lush orchestral playing from the Berlin Philharmonic, but it feels more like very colourful scene painting rather than real drama. To get to the Romantic heart of this piece, try Barbirolli: for its expressionist, forward looking (via Verklarte Nacht to Erwartung) side, go to Boulez. Verklarte Nacht fares better as a performance (more drama here) and the Berlin strings have magnificent depth and richness - perhaps too much, bearing in mind that it was originally a String Sextet.
The Berg Orchestral Pieces go extremely well, too. Unsurprisingly, it is their roots in Mahler and beyond him to Wagner that strike one first. Then one begins to speculate on a Karajan Wozzeck which might have been well worth the hearing. Like Verklarte Nacht, the pieces from the Lyric Suite feel a little overblown in comparison to their String Quartet originals.
But the big surprise is that the best things on these discs are the Schoenberg Variations and especially the Webern pieces. The Op.1 Passacaglia still has its feet firmly rooted in the world of Bergian Romanticism and Karajan plays this up to the full. But as we progress through the succession of Webern's exquisite miniatures via the two sets of Orchestra Pieces to the Symphony, Karajan proves himself a master of Webernian line, of maintaining cohesion as melodic threads pass subtly from instrument to instrument. He is also, less surprisingly, a master of Webern as an expert orchestral colourist. Karajan always manages to sustain an ideal balance between different instruments and instrumental groupings even at the lowest dynamic levels.
Karajan is no Boulez, casting a modernist's crystalline analytical gaze on these pieces - Webern as the father of the Darmstadt school of total serialism. Karajan approaches them from the other, Romantic side of the Schoenberg atonal/12-tone divide. Accept that point of view and these are very satisfying performances indeed. It makes one sorry that he didn't devote more time to the repertoire of the Second Viennese School. A Karajan Moses und Aron or Lulu could have been fascinating.
Pelleas benefits from wonderfully lush orchestral playing from the Berlin Philharmonic, but it feels more like very colourful scene painting rather than real drama. To get to the Romantic heart of this piece, try Barbirolli: for its expressionist, forward looking (via Verklarte Nacht to Erwartung) side, go to Boulez. Verklarte Nacht fares better as a performance (more drama here) and the Berlin strings have magnificent depth and richness - perhaps too much, bearing in mind that it was originally a String Sextet.
The Berg Orchestral Pieces go extremely well, too. Unsurprisingly, it is their roots in Mahler and beyond him to Wagner that strike one first. Then one begins to speculate on a Karajan Wozzeck which might have been well worth the hearing. Like Verklarte Nacht, the pieces from the Lyric Suite feel a little overblown in comparison to their String Quartet originals.
But the big surprise is that the best things on these discs are the Schoenberg Variations and especially the Webern pieces. The Op.1 Passacaglia still has its feet firmly rooted in the world of Bergian Romanticism and Karajan plays this up to the full. But as we progress through the succession of Webern's exquisite miniatures via the two sets of Orchestra Pieces to the Symphony, Karajan proves himself a master of Webernian line, of maintaining cohesion as melodic threads pass subtly from instrument to instrument. He is also, less surprisingly, a master of Webern as an expert orchestral colourist. Karajan always manages to sustain an ideal balance between different instruments and instrumental groupings even at the lowest dynamic levels.
Karajan is no Boulez, casting a modernist's crystalline analytical gaze on these pieces - Webern as the father of the Darmstadt school of total serialism. Karajan approaches them from the other, Romantic side of the Schoenberg atonal/12-tone divide. Accept that point of view and these are very satisfying performances indeed. It makes one sorry that he didn't devote more time to the repertoire of the Second Viennese School. A Karajan Moses und Aron or Lulu could have been fascinating.
