Alban Berg (1885-1935)

[staxomega]

A disc I grabbed from storage and enjoyed listening to, Helene Lindqvist's singing is really stunning, especially moving since I was hearing it for the first time on my ESL57 speakers.



Edit: Ferne Lieder from Jugendlieder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1Ulq3tooHk

[Mirror Image]

A disc I grabbed from storage and enjoyed listening to, Helene Lindqvist's singing is really stunning, especially moving since I was hearing it for the first time on my ESL57 speakers.



Edit: Ferne Lieder from Jugendlieder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1Ulq3tooHk

Berg's lieder is excellent. This is the recording I have and it's superb:

[Spineur]

Dear HVBIAS and MI,

Alban Berg composed some 80 lieder in his youth after the loss of his father in the 1904-1908 period.  He had already started his composition studies with Schoenberg.  Out of these, he extracted seven of them "The Jugendlieder" that he orchestrated later on.  He forbade the performance of the other lieder during his lifetime.  A new recording (3CDs) of the integral of all Berg lieder has just been published, and for many of them, it is a world premiere.  The performance are good.  I can recommend this small box.

[Karl Henning]

Most interesting, thanks!

[Ratliff]

Listened to Lulu again, this time a video production the Patricia Petibon and Marc Albrecht.



I must say this piece is not going to become my favorite piece by Berg. I find the libretto extremely off-putting. The theme of Lulu as some sort of philosophical femme fatale, seductive yet repulsive, powerful yet a victim, noble yet crass, is off putting. I don't find it has any contact with the reality of actual people. There are moments of great beauty in the music, but the dramatic setting doesn't resonate with me. I guess I should stick with the Lulu suite.

[Mirror Image]

I like Wozzeck but I never could get into Lulu. I do like the Lulu Suite however.

[Biffo]

I have seen Lulu twice, the first time many years ago as a play then much later Berg's opera.

The play was was a very dark comedy. It was fast moving and it had the audience laughing right up to the grim final scene. I am not sure how much of the original two plays, (Earth Spirit and Pandora's Box, were used in the adaptation I saw or in Berg's opera. I don't remember there being much comedy in the opera although the production I saw at English National Opera was very gripping.

I have heard the Suite both live and on disc but have never been tempted to go for the complete opera either on CD or DVD.

[Ratliff]

I have seen Lulu twice, the first time many years ago as a play then much later Berg's opera.

The play was was a very dark comedy. It was fast moving and it had the audience laughing right up to the grim final scene. I am not sure how much of the original two plays, (Earth Spirit and Pandora's Box, were used in the adaptation I saw or in Berg's opera. I don't remember there being much comedy in the opera although the production I saw at English National Opera was very gripping.

I have heard the Suite both live and on disc but have never been tempted to go for the complete opera either on CD or DVD.

That may be the issue, in Berg's hands it seems deathly serious, at least in this production which semi-adheres to the original scenario. I have another video which I may watch some time in the remote future. I think I will listen to the Lulu Suite.

[Old San Antone]

Dear HVBIAS and MI,

Alban Berg composed some 80 lieder in his youth after the loss of his father in the 1904-1908 period.  He had already started his composition studies with Schoenberg.  Out of these, he extracted seven of them "The Jugendlieder" that he orchestrated later on.  He forbade the performance of the other lieder during his lifetime.  A new recording (3CDs) of the integral of all Berg lieder has just been published, and for many of them, it is a world premiere.  The performance are good.  I can recommend this small box.

I think that is a really fine set, and am especially happy to have heard the early songs.

[Mirror Image]

Cross-posted from the 'Listening' thread:

I'm still listening to Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos (w/ Sinopoli et. al.) and enjoying it immensely sans the narration in the Prologue, but this isn't why I'm making this post...

I want to post my review of the new Berg Tilson Thomas recording:



Title: An All Berg Program From MTT But With Mixed Results

First, let me get the negatives out of the way first since no one apparently likes to read a complaint these days, but the performances of the "Violin Concerto" and "Seven Early Songs" are to be found in better performances elsewhere. I never have been a huge fan of Gil Shaham's violin playing as great technically as he may be, I think he missed the boat interpretatively in Berg's "Violin Concerto". The main problem is Shaham doesn't dig into the music enough here to devastate the listener or, at least, this listener. This concerto was "Written in memory of angel", but this doesn't come across here. Everything is pristine, well-paced, but it's not psychologically gripping as Berg should be. Anyway, Shaham isn't the violinist for the job. My two go-to performances here are Mutter/Levine on DG and Faust/Abbado on Harmonia Mundi. I think both of these performances get inside the music and leave the listener a bit uncomfortable. "Seven Early Songs" is well-enough sung here from Susanna Phillips and, again like Shaham, there's no questioning how technically superb she is, but there's more to Berg than this and I'll continue to return to Norman/Boulez on Sony and Otter/Abbado on DG. I do want to mention that Tilson Thomas' accompaniment is quite good, but it could be more edgier and responsive to what the soloist is doing rather than just beating time on the podium. I think what really stands out here are the "Three Pieces for Orchestra". Now, this is where I think Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra come alive. This is a gripping performance and it does make me question why couldn't this kind of attention and excitement be in the "Seven Early Songs" and "Violin Concerto"? Was Tilson Thomas asleep at the wheel during these performances? I don't know, but he really gets inside the "Three Pieces for Orchestra" --- all of the eeriness, Expressionistic distortion and maniacal delusion are here in all their splendor. This performance doesn't quite reach the same level as Karajan's incredible Berliner performance on DG or Boulez's performance with the BBC Symphony Orchestra on Sony (originally Columbia), but it certainly gets close.

Allow me to add that the fidelity of this recording is outstanding. Anyway, I'll give this 3-stars for the "Three Pieces for Orchestra", but the weaker performances of the "Violin Concerto" and "Seven Early Songs" keep me from giving it a full 5-star rating as I don't think Shaham and Phillips were interpretatively that interesting.

[Carlo Gesualdo]

Lyric suite remain a favorite, how many time was it printed in on LP ?

Alban Berg and teacher of Schoenberg  are  favorite great favorite !!!

[DaveF]

Not being much of a German speaker, I was running the libretto of Wozzeck through Google Translate while listening to the Segerstam recording on Naxos.  Every time the name "Wozzeck" appears, the software asks me if I mean "Woyzeck".  I'm rather impressed by its range of cultural reference.

[staxomega]

Cross-posted from the 'Listening' thread:

I agree with you on the Violin Concerto. I wasn't as thrilled with Op. 6 Three Pieces For Orchestra. I wrote about it here, you might need to go back a few posts for the full context: https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/listenin-to-classical-music-and-conversation.652827/page-2295#post-22850038

I listened to it in stereo, I will have to respectfully disagree I'd add it to my long list of MTT/SFS performances that are competent and middle of the road, I found it lacking in the drama (the way Boulez builds up every climax is masterful, with MTT they just sort of arrive at the climaxes) and mystery of Boulez's. The recorded sound in stereo is exceptional

A newer performance for me of the Violin Concerto that was pretty surprising was Grumiaux and Markevitch, I wouldn't really associate Grumiaux with this type of music. Ivry Gitlis' wild swagger is another I would have wished recorded this, he blows me away in Leibowitz's Violin Concerto.

[MusicTurner]

I agree with you on the Violin Concerto. I wasn't as thrilled with Op. 6 Three Pieces For Orchestra. I wrote about it here, you might need to go back a few posts for the full context: https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/listenin-to-classical-music-and-conversation.652827/page-2295#post-22850038

I listened to it in stereo, I will have to respectfully disagree I'd add it to my long list of MTT/SFS performances that are competent and middle of the road, I found it lacking in the drama (the way Boulez builds up every climax is masterful, with MTT they just sort of arrive at the climaxes) and mystery of Boulez's. The recorded sound in stereo is exceptional

A newer performance for me of the Violin Concerto that was pretty surprising was Grumiaux and Markevitch, I wouldn't really associate Grumiaux with this type of music. Ivry Gitlis' wild swagger is another I would have wished recorded this, he blows me away in Leibowitz's Violin Concerto.

Kogan/Rozhdestvensky and Mutter/Levine are probably my favourites and perhaps somewhat Gitliesque in the Berg Concerto. I also have Gitlis/Strickland in it, but I don't remember how it is, as far as I remember it's in mono too. Besides having an old LP, it's in a very fine Gitlis 3CD set from Brilliant Classics.

[staxomega]

Kogan/Rozhdestvensky and Mutter/Levine are probably my favourites and perhaps somewhat Gitliesque in the Berg Concerto. I also have Gitlis/Strickland in it, but I don't remember how it is, as far as I remember it's in mono too. Besides having an old LP, it's in a very fine Gitlis 3CD set from Brilliant Classics.

Thanks for mentioning these. I hope Melodiya will do a retrospective box for Kogan, so many hard to find performances that are either LP only or on out of print CDs. Mutter/Levine was the first I heard, no doubt one of the greatest.

[Mirror Image]

I agree with you on the Violin Concerto. I wasn't as thrilled with Op. 6 Three Pieces For Orchestra. I wrote about it here, you might need to go back a few posts for the full context: https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/listenin-to-classical-music-and-conversation.652827/page-2295#post-22850038

I listened to it in stereo, I will have to respectfully disagree I'd add it to my long list of MTT/SFS performances that are competent and middle of the road, I found it lacking in the drama (the way Boulez builds up every climax is masterful, with MTT they just sort of arrive at the climaxes) and mystery of Boulez's. The recorded sound in stereo is exceptional

A newer performance for me of the Violin Concerto that was pretty surprising was Grumiaux and Markevitch, I wouldn't really associate Grumiaux with this type of music. Ivry Gitlis' wild swagger is another I would have wished recorded this, he blows me away in Leibowitz's Violin Concerto.

Well, MTT has a particular view on the Berg Three Pieces for Orchestra and he tries his best not to impose himself too much on the music because he said that one false move could ruin the whole piece.

Here talks about it here:

https://www.youtube.com/v/sF6tkYg-ZOo

[bhodges]

Recorded in November, here is Wozzeck (audio only) from Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse, with Stéphane Degout and conducted by Leo Hussain:

https://www.francemusique.fr/emissions/samedi-a-l-opera/wozzeck-au-theatre-du-capitole-avec-sophie-koch-et-stephane-degout

--Bruce

[bhodges]

From December 18, Berg's Violin Concerto with Frank Peter Zimmermann, conductor Marek Janowski, and the WDR Sinfonieorchester. Grateful to the friend who pointed me to this performance (and reminded me that today is Berg's birthday). Outstanding audio and video.

https://www1.wdr.de/orchester-und-chor/sinfonieorchester/videos/video-alban-berg---konzert-fuer-violine-und-orchester-dem-andenken-eines-engels-100.html

--Bruce

[ritter]

From December 18, Berg's Violin Concerto with Frank Peter Zimmermann, conductor Marek Janowski, and the WDR Sinfonieorchester. Grateful to the friend who pointed me to this performance (and reminded me that today is Berg's birthday). Outstanding audio and video.

https://www1.wdr.de/orchester-und-chor/sinfonieorchester/videos/video-alban-berg---konzert-fuer-violine-und-orchester-dem-andenken-eines-engels-100.html

--Bruce

Nice! I saw Zimmermann perform the piece live here in Madrid some 10 years ago, with the Spanish National Orchestra conducted by Josep Pons, and he was outstanding in it! The second part of the concert was Das Lied von der Erde (w. the late Johan Botha and Anna Larsson), and Zimmermann sat next to me, completely absorbed in Mahler's music. We had a brief chat at the end, and he was very gracious and friendly.  A memorable concert.

[Mirror Image]

Nice! I saw Zimmermann perform the piece live here in Madrid some 10 years ago, with the Spanish National Orchestra conducted by Josep Pons, and he was outstanding in it! The second part of the concert was Das Lied von der Erde (w. the late Johan Botha and Anna Larsson), and Zimmermann sat next to me, completely absorbed in Mahler's music. We had a brief chat at the end, and he was very gracious and friendly.  A memorable concert.

Wonderful, Rafael! Two of my favorite works and to have Zimmermann sit next to you is awesome. You're quite fortunate to have heard such incredible music-making.