Alban Berg (1885-1935)

[Karl Henning]

. . . the Chamber Concerto is the one I've always listened to the least, it's been a couple of years now, I should return back. I can sense it's slowly, very slowly, growing on me. Not everyone can hit a home run and that's the Chamber Concerto for me . . . .

Well, I utterly deny the idea that the Kammerkonzert is anything less than "a home run." If anything, I think it an even better piece than the Violin Concerto (and I am not saying that the latter is anything less than excellent).

I have done a pendulum swing with the piece over the decades, so I understand being out of sympathy with it.  I first heard it broadcast over the radio (back at a time when you could still hear such a piece broadcast by a mainstream New York radio station), and I was agog over it.  Rather later, there was a time I had fallen rather out of sympathy with the whole Second Viennese School lot; it was just a time when my ears were after something else.

But long since now, that notorious trio and I have been reconciled . . . still, somehow, it was a while before I re-attained a state of genuine enthusiasm for the Kammerkonzert. It's probably gnarlier than most of the rest of Berg's work, so I see why a listener who is attuned to the luscious-creamy Berg finds this concerto a bit of a chew.

[The new erato]

Also, is it safe to say that the Alban Berg String Quartet has the best recording available of the Alban Berg quartet for strings? Because you would think that they should possess that title, otherwise it's a complete fail. 

Yes, and Øyvind Berg, the conductor of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, should be the best conductor for his orchestral works.

[Leo K.]

Well, I utterly deny the idea that the Kammerkonzert is anything less than "a home run." If anything, I think it an even better piece than the Violin Concerto (and I am not saying that the latter is anything less than excellent).

I have done a pendulum swing with the piece over the decades, so I understand being out of sympathy with it.  I first heard it broadcast over the radio (back at a time when you could still hear such a piece broadcast by a mainstream New York radio station), and I was agog over it.  Rather later, there was a time I had fallen rather out of sympathy with the whole Second Viennese School lot; it was just a time when my ears were after something else.

But long since now, that notorious trio and I have been reconciled . . . still, somehow, it was a while before I re-attained a state of genuine enthusiasm for the Kammerkonzert. It's probably gnarlier than most of the rest of Berg's work, so I see why a listener who is attuned to the luscious-creamy Berg finds this concerto a bit of a chew.

Thanks for your thoughts Karl, much appreciated. You convinced me to return to this work in the near future. You hit the nail on the head regarding my preference for lucious-creamy Berg, that could be the factor. Perhaps it is the recording I am living with, this one? I think it is Isaac Stern who is the culprit:

[Karl Henning]

Thanks for your thoughts Karl, much appreciated. You convinced me to return to this work in the near future. You hit the nail on the head regarding my preference for lucious-creamy Berg, that could be the factor. Perhaps it is the recording I am living with, this one? I think it is Isaac Stern who is the culprit:

Perhaps you're right, at that, Leo:  I only warmed to the Stern/P. Serkin/Abbado recording after 'reconnecting' with the Kammerkonzert via the Zukerman/Barenboim/Boulez account of the piece.

[TheGSMoeller]

Perhaps you're right, at that, Leo:  I only warmed to the Stern/P. Serkin/Abbado recording after 'reconnecting' with the Kammerkonzert via the Zukerman/Barenboim/Boulez account of the piece.

Zukerman/Bareboim/Boulez for sure, it's the only one I really listen to.
But, (and in addition to) don't forget the wonderful arrangement of the second movement Adagio for violin, clarinet and piano by Alban himself. It's an even more chamber-esque chamber version.

[Karl Henning]

Hearing the piece live at Symphony Hall helped, as well.

And thanks for the reminder of that trio version of the middle movement, Greg!  I need to play that one sometime . . . .

[not edward]

Zukerman/Bareboim/Boulez for sure, it's the only one I really listen to.

Oddly enough, this recording is one that never connected with me at all. I only became full convinced of the work through the more recent Tetzlaff/Uchida/Boulez.

As people have said, this is probably Berg's busiest and thorniest work, but one of the most appealing things about it to me is exactly that: so much is going on there and there's not just one fairly straightforward narrative present as in the violin concerto. (There's a sense in which I think of the Chamber Concerto in a parallel manner to Mahler 7: a performance can say so many different things about the work.)

[Karl Henning]

Oddly enough, this recording is one that never connected with me at all. I only became full convinced of the work through the more recent Tetzlaff/Uchida/Boulez.

As people have said, this is probably Berg's busiest and thorniest work, but one of the most appealing things about it to me is exactly that: so much is going on there and there's not just one fairly straightforward narrative present as in the violin concerto. (There's a sense in which I think of the Chamber Concerto in a parallel manner to Mahler 7: a performance can say so many different things about the work.)

Cheers, Edward! And I've not forgotten Mennin....

[Octave]

A minor discographical question.  The three last tracks from the Jessye Norman LP/CD of Berg's songs (with the red cover and Norman as a bride with mad eyes) are as follows:
24. Zwei Lieder/Schliesse mir die Augen beide (1907)     0:54
25. Zwei Lieder/Schliesse mir die Augen beide (1925)      1:31
26. Er klagt, dass der Frühling so kortz blüht from Jugendlieder (Excerpt)

I cannot tell if these three pieces are included in the BOULEZ CONDUCTS BERG box (pictured below).  I do know that the rest of the Norman disc is included (thanks Jens): the Jugendlieder [which seem to be grouped together earlier on that single LP, with the "Er klagt" excerpt set aside at the end of the disc], Altenberg lieder, Sieben frühe Lieder.
Thanks for any help!  I consulted Amazon US, Presto, and Arkiv (at which I couldn't find the Sony box at all, oddly).

[Octave]

A question about a recording mentioned by Andre/Lilas in an old post referring to the Boulez disc of Berg's KAMMERKONZERT and Mozart's GRAN PARTITA:

In the Berg my favourite is still the Supraphon with Josef Suk & Co. I also have the DG in the big Berg box, but it's rather beefy and unsubtle in comparison.

The only Supraphon/Suk disc with Berg I can find is the VIOLIN CONCERTO, not the CHAMBER CONCERTO.  Have I missed something?  [EDIT: I'm looking for a CD edition, if one exists.]  This is the one disc I found:

[asin]B00006J47I[/asin]

[Parsifal]

A minor discographical question.  The three last tracks from the Jessye Norman LP/CD of Berg's songs (with the red cover and Norman as a bride with mad eyes) are as follows:
24. Zwei Lieder/Schliesse mir die Augen beide (1907)     0:54
25. Zwei Lieder/Schliesse mir die Augen beide (1925)      1:31
26. Er klagt, dass der Frühling so kortz blüht from Jugendlieder (Excerpt)

I cannot tell if these three pieces are included in the BOULEZ CONDUCTS BERG box (pictured below).  I do know that the rest of the Norman disc is included (thanks Jens): the Jugendlieder [which seem to be grouped together earlier on that single LP, with the "Er klagt" excerpt set aside at the end of the disc], Altenberg lieder, Sieben frühe Lieder.
Thanks for any help!  I consulted Amazon US, Presto, and Arkiv (at which I couldn't find the Sony box at all, oddly).

The tracks appear to be there.

http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/Pierre-Boulez-Edition-Sony-Alban-Berg/hnum/5915313

Don't dawdle, those sets our going rapidly out of print (although they may come back even cheaper, but no guarantees). 

[Opus106]

A question about a recording mentioned by Andre/Lilas in an old post referring to the Boulez disc of Berg's KAMMERKONZERT and Mozart's GRAN PARTITA:
The only Supraphon/Suk disc with Berg I can find is the VIOLIN CONCERTO, not the CHAMBER CONCERTO.  Have I missed something?

A Google search comes up with LPs available at the German Ebay, for instance, featuring the VC and CC.

[Octave]

Thanks; I should have specified compact disc editions.

[jlaurson]

Dip Your Ears, No. 146 (Christine Schäfer Sings SchoenBerg)


http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2013/07/dip-your-ears-no-146-christine-schafer_13.html

[TheGSMoeller]

Perfect 'good morning' music. The orchestral clarity of Berg's score is unmatched here, but perhaps not as dramatic as Metzmacher/EMI or Abbado/DG.
Has anyone heard the Lulu from Dohnanyi/Vienna/Silja on Decca?

[asin]B006IOOXJQ[/asin]

[Mirror Image]

I just bought this 2-CD set tonight:



Have any of you heard any of these performances? I like Venzago's conducting and Berg seemed like a good composer for him to conduct. The set also has Isabelle van Keulen performing the Violin Concerto. I admire her playing a lot. It also contains an orchestration by Theo Verbey of the Piano Sonata. I'm not always onboard with other composers orchestrating another composer's music, but I'm definitely interested in hearing what could be done with the work. Also, it's always nice to have another performance of the suites from Wozzeck and Lulu and not to mention Three Pieces for Orchestra.

[Leo K.]

I have not heard this recording, I look forward to your report!

[Mirror Image]

I have not heard this recording, I look forward to your report!

I look forward to giving a report, Leo. I take it you enjoy Berg's music? Any favorite works?

[San Antone]

Very good production of Lulu

https://www.youtube.com/v/QfdP4II20Cg

[Mirror Image]

Cross-posted from the 'Purchases' thread -

Just bought:



I definitely wanted to read more about this concerto since it's one of my favorite pieces of music and this seemed to be the book to do just that.

Has anyone read this book? I'm really looking forward to reading about the genesis of this masterpiece and how Berg's own life ties into it all. I know the basics: he wrote the concerto in memory of Manon Gropius, Alma Mahler's daughter, and that it contains quotations from a Carinthian folk song Berg heard as a teenager and also a chorale from a Bach work. That's pretty much all I know about it, so I look forward to the education.