Notes and Text/Translation Link
http://www.cd101.net/VBX206notes.pdf
In many respects the
Gurrelieder was Schoenberg’s most ambitious
project. Certainly it represents his
most conscious and direct attempt to
match the large-scale works of the late-romantic
masters whom he so much admired: not
only Mahler and Strauss but also Pfitzner
and, by implication, Wagner. Requiring
five solo singers, one spoken voice,
mixed chorus and a large orchestra,
the work occupies a time-span of two
hours and justifies its scale without
difficulty.
Composed around 1900,
immediately after the string sextet
Verklärte Nacht, the orchestration
occupied Schoenberg across a further
ten years. His attention to detail was
painstaking and there is a case to be
made for the best music being the most
refined and restrained aspects of the
score. Jens Peter Jacobsen’s poem is
evocative in itself, though the lack
of text and translation here denies
the purchaser the chance to find out,
and the longer term rewards of ownership
of this set need therefore be compared
with the short-term gain of the cheaper
bargain price.
The pace of the work,
as so often with the late-romantic style,
is basically slow, the mood of longing
deeply expressive. The story concerns
the love of King Waldemaar for Tove,
his despair when she dies, the wild
hunt and the transfiguration of the
later stages replete with the imageries
of resurrection. Inspired by this ambitious
range, Schoenberg creates a wide variety
of musical approaches: solo song, complex
choral textures, melodrama (speech over
music), and powerfully scored orchestral
passages which at once enhance the drama
and add another expressive dimension.
The musical language is diatonic rather
than atonal or serial.
Robert Craft is a seasoned
campaigner as far as conducting Schoenberg
is concerned, having already recorded
many of the composer’s orchestral and
choral works across several decades,
usually for CBS. While the present performance
will gain a wide currency in this Naxos
incarnation, it was actually recorded
for Koch International, and enjoyed
a short period in the catalogue under
that banner.
The opening sequence
is among the highlights of the score
and it has probably never sounded better
than it does here. Craft’s pacing and
shaping of the music are beautifully
judged and the Philharmonia Orchestra
plays supremely well. Schoenberg’s complex
textures make this achievement far from
easy to realize, but every detail plays
its part in the effect of the whole.
There follows an extended
love scene intended to move towards
an ecstatic climax. And so it does,
although the slower tempo chosen by
Craft compared with, for example, Riccardo
Chailly (Decca 430 321 2) misses the
final degree of ardour, as well as causing
the singers some extra pressure. The
soprano Melanie Diener, while otherwise
excellent, shows signs of strain here.
The most famous part
of the score is The Song of the Wood
Dove, and Craft handles it sensitively,
showing a keen regard for the music’s
special personality, a personality that
seems to anticipate the modernism of
the composer’s later style.
The recorded sound
is admirably balanced and often refined,
but in the final analysis it lacks the
richness of the rival Decca version
when it comes to the powerful climactic
statements.
Terry Barfoot
Bruce Hodges
has also listened to this recording
This reissue originally
appeared on Koch, and not so very long
ago (c. 2002), which must say volumes
about the state of affairs of the distribution
of classical music. Whatever the official
reason for bringing it back, it deserves
to be in the catalogue. There are now
a number of excellent versions of this
piece in the catalogue, by Chailly,
Abbado and Rattle, all of which are
blessed with starry casts, excellent
conducting and top-flight recording
to match. Even if none of these serves
as the "ideal" recording, it is great
to have this mammoth vision in a number
of versions. I have also heard this
work live several times: in 2000, with
Rattle and the Philadelphia Orchestra,
and in 2001 with James Levine and the
Met Orchestra, both at Carnegie Hall.
The impact of this
late-Romantic masterpiece is totally
overwhelming, especially for those listeners
inclined toward its florid, broadly
painted washes of sound. And anyone
who might be shy of Schoenberg in general
should reconsider this particular work,
which is more in the vein of Richard
Strauss or Zemlinsky, with long, arching
vocal lines and sensuous colors, thanks
to a huge orchestra. In the Rattle performance
I saw at Carnegie Hall, the stage had
to be extended by ten feet to accommodate
all the personnel onstage.
The story concerns
King Waldemar and his love for Tove,
which is thwarted when she is murdered.
He sets out searching for her, and eventually
discovers her in Nature. The piece ends
in a gloriously large display of sheer
orchestral sound. Schoenberg’s vast
structure has Waldemar and Tove singing
in alternating takes, with other characters
entering for relatively brief moments.
Meanwhile, brilliant orchestral interludes
are interspersed between the vocal sections.
This is not a work for everyday listening,
but its utter majesty and scope make
a compelling experience when one is
in the mood.
So back to this CD,
which is if nothing else a spectacular-sounding
recording. Robert Craft recorded this
just one month after September 11, 2001,
and the forces assembled sing with such
ardor that I wonder if they found inspiration
in the almost unimaginable tragedy at
hand. If Craft’s tempi are somewhat
slower than in the recordings cited
above (caveat emptor) some listeners
may prefer his more stately approach.
I won’t speculate on his artistic intentions,
but I know that I liked what I heard
here.
As Waldemar, Stephen
O’Mara is heroic and declamatory, with
Wagnerian strength, yet lyrical tone
and sweetness. As Tove, Melanie Diener
sounds lovely, especially in one of
my favorite sections, "Du sendest mir
einen Liebesblick". Jennifer Lane’s
Wood Dove has little more than twelve
minutes on the entire recording, but
they are memorable and end the first
CD with rapture. Ditto for David Wilson-Johnson,
whose fine bass voice appears for only
three minutes, for "Deckel des Sarges
klappert," but he also makes a fine
impression. Martyn Hill uses his mellifluous
tenor to nice effect in "Ein Seltsamer
Vogel ist so’n Aal", and even the speaker
in the penultimate section, Ernst Haefliger,
makes the most of his interlude.
The Philharmonia Orchestra
fairly roars through the score, in the
best sense, combining passion with an
enormous dynamic range. Craft seems
to encourage them to ever-greater heights.
The Simon Joly Chorale is sparingly
used, with the tenors and basses having
few minutes to themselves as Waldemar’s
men in "Gekusst, O König" before
the entire ensemble fairly explodes
in the final "Sehte die Sonne" ("Hymn
to the Sun"). This dazzling sequence
gave me a bit of the shivers, in a good
way. All of this is expertly captured
by engineer Arne Akselberg in Watford
Colosseum, with corresponding clarity
and majesty and a huge sense of occasion.
The physical sound of the recording
is sumptuous, with as mentioned before,
a very wide dynamic range. I doubt any
listeners will have any complaints.
Listen to it loud, but be prepared for
the climaxes that may shake the walls
of your home.
My sole disappointment
is that no translations are included
in the otherwise fine booklet. The libretto
in German (only) can be found on Naxos’s
website (I found the link but no text
or translation is provided. An alternative
link is provided above. Ed.). But otherwise,
this is not only recommended but a bit
of a bargain as well.
Bruce Hodges
Philharmonia Orchestra/Robert Craft 
