When
it comes to tempestuous premieres Stravinsky’s
Rite
of Spring gets all the press, even though Schoenberg’s
Pelléas
und Mélisande received a pretty hostile reception at
its first night in Vienna eight years earlier. As with
Le
sacre it’s hard to see what all the fuss was about,
but there are still those who consider Stravinsky and Schoenberg
to be ‘difficult’ composers. Shrewdly, Naxos have embarked
on a multi-volume Schoenberg series, in which key works
are conducted by Robert Craft. Best known as Stravinsky’s
amanuensis, Craft has made it his mission to promote and
record the works of his master and those of the Second
Viennese School.
This
recording, originally released by Koch International, couples
two of Schoenberg’s earlier works. The composer was unaware
that Maurice Maeterlinck’s play
Pelléas et Mélisande had
already been set as an opera by Claude Debussy and premiered
at the Opéra-Comique, Paris, in April 1902. Apart from
being written as a symphonic poem, Schoenberg’s approach
to
Pelléas is radically different in other ways,
condensing the story into a mere 40 minutes. As for
Erwartung he
chose another, grittier, tragedy, Marie Pappenheim’s dramatic
monologue about a woman who murders her lover yet awaits
a tryst with him.
In
terms of its thrust and musical language Schoenberg’s
Pelléas isn’t
that different
from
Gurre-Lieder, the first
part of which was completed by 1901. Both works share a
post-Romantic sensibility and dramatic intensity, qualities
that Craft points up very well indeed. (His recording of
Gurre-Lieder is
available on Naxos 8.557518/9.) In both recordings the
conductor’s approach is direct and unsentimental, the ever-flexible
Philharmonia responding with playing of considerable weight
and power.
Schoenberg’s
real achievement in the four linked movements of
Pelléas is
that he captures every aspect of this
Tristan-style
drama – complete with
leitmotivs – within what is
essentially a traditional symphonic form. The tender love
music will surely remind listeners of Waldemar and Tove
in
Gurre-Lieder, but really it’s Wagner that most
comes to mind, especially those surging climaxes and transformation
of key themes. The Philharmonia are superb throughout,
commanding when they need to be – the evolving Fate motif,
now for brass, now for higher woodwinds – and sensuous,
too, in the music we associate with Golaud the husband
and Mélisande the bride.
In
terms of its incisive writing Schoenberg’s
Pelléas could
be the perfect antidote for those who find Debussy’s masterpiece
too long and tremulous for their tastes. It certainly helps
if you know the story – no synopsis is provided – as the
track titles won’t tell you anything at all. Just recently
I took EMI to task over their meagre booklets, pointing
out that Naxos usually get it right. Not so here, although
Craft’s detailed essay on
Erwartung is very impressive
indeed. What a pity
Pelléas only gets a paltry half
page.
I
must agree with my colleague Brian Wilson (see his
review)
who quibbled about the coupling, albeit for very different
reasons. It’s not that I dislike
Erwartung, it’s
just that I have a powerful aversion to Anja Silja’s distressingly
wide vibrato. Hers has never been the loveliest of voices,
so it was entirely appropriate to cast her as the Witch
in
Hänsel und Gretel at Covent Garden last year.
Yes, she is suitably inward and dramatic in the quieter
moments of this anguished monodrama – in Scene IV, for
example – but even allowing for the
angst of this
work Silja’s wild vocals are just too distracting for me.
I much prefer Jessye Norman (Philips 475 6395) who at least
has the amplitude and steadiness that Silja sorely lacks.
Not
having heard the original Koch release I can’t say how
this transfer compares. What I
can say, though,
is that the Naxos sound is big and bold – if a little dry – which
rather suits Craft’s robust view of these scores. There
are other fine interpreters of
Pelléas, Pierre Boulez
and Zoltán Kocsis among them, but at least Craft’s version
won’t break the bank. As for alternatives to
Erwartung, I’d
say just about
any of them would be preferable to
this one.
Naxos
must be commended for resurrecting these Craft recordings,
even if they aren’t always as persuasive as they could
be. I certainly didn’t warm to this conductor’s
Gurre-Lieder – try
Gielen on Hänssler 93198 instead – but at budget price
this review disc offers an attractive
Pelléas at
least.
Dan
Morgan
see also review by Brian Wilson
Anja
Silja (soprano)* 
