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Arnold Schoenberg
Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg has, somewhat unfairly in my opinion, acquired something of a reputation for being a rather "difficult" composer to get to grips with. Perhaps because of his several atonal works, as well as his development of a new system of serial composition in which all twelve notes of the chromatic scale are treated equally, his music can often be thought of as frighteningly unapproachable and lacking emotion.
However, I think there is much beauty to be found in his music, particularly in pieces such as Verklärte Nacht, Pelleas und Melisande, Gurre-Lieder, and the Chamber Symphonies, and I hope that my suggestions below will encourage you to explore his music further if you're not already familiar with it.
Orchestral Works
Robert Craft conducts the London Symphony Orchestra in a perfectly-judged account of the Five Orchestral Pieces; the orchestral balance is impeccable. Also included on the disc are two orchestral transcriptions by Schoenberg (both performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra): a lovely performance of the Cello Concerto with cellist Fred Sherry (a transcription of a harpsichord concerto by the Baroque composer, Matthias Georg Monn), and Schoenberg's orchestration of Brahms's Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC
Pierre Boulez has recorded this 1902 tone-poem more than once, but for me his finest version is his most recent recording with the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester. Boulez’s recordings have always impressed me with their clarity, and this one is no exception, with expertly-balanced climaxes, powerful brass, and sumptuous string playing.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
The strings of the Berlin Philharmonic treat us to their most ravishingly expressive sound in this 1974 recording of Verklärte Nacht, heard here in Schoenberg's own version for string orchestra, conducted by Herbert von Karajan. This is a big and bold performance, definitely leaning heavily towards the Romantic end of the spectrum, but in Karajan's hands it all works perfectly. It's coupled with an equally momentous performance of the Variations for Orchestra.
Available Formats: Presto CD, MP3, FLAC
Hilary Hahn impresses as the soloist in Schoenberg's Violin Concerto, with tremendous support from the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Esa-Pekka Salonen. Hahn manages to find moments of tender beauty in the slow movement, and the last movement is full of virtuoso playing from soloist and orchestra alike.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
Opera, Vocal and Choral Works
Surprisingly few recordings are available of Schoenberg's biblical opera (super performances conducted by Georg Solti and Pierre Boulez are currently only available as downloads). This performance with Sylvain Cambreling conducting the SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg comes top of the list of available recordings on CD for me: Franz Grundheber is arresting in the role of Moses, and Andreas Conrad navigates the fiendish vocal lines of Aron with precision.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
Claudio Abbado assembled a fantastic line-up of soloists for Schoenberg's gargantuan work, including Siegfried Jerusalem as Waldemar, Sharon Sweet as Tove, Marjana Lipovšek as the Wood Dove, and Philip Langridge in the small role of Klaus the Jester. Somewhat unusually, Abbado chooses a female speaker (Barbara Sukowa) for the one song that employs the half-sung, half-spoken technique known as Sprechstimme, but for me this makes perfect sense as it looks forward to the use of the same technique in the later work for female voice and small ensemble, Pierrot Lunaire. The enormous forces of the Vienna Philharmonic, and the combined choral might of the Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor, Arnold Schoenberg Chor, and Slowakischer Philharmonischer Chor Bratislava also help to make this a truly thrilling recording.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC
This performance of Schoenberg's twelve-tone comic opera about marital fidelity, conducted by Michael Gielen with the Radio-Sinfonie Orchester Frankfurt, is the only one currently available on CD, so it's just as well that it's very good! Christine Whittlesey and Richard Salter are excellent as the playfully bickering couple.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC
Christine Schäfer strikes just the right balance between singing and speaking in this strikingly compelling recording with Pierre Boulez and Ensemble InterContemporain. She is also stunning in the taxingly stratospheric vocal lines of the three-minute miniature for soprano, celeste, harmonium, and harp, Herzgewächse. The disc also includes a fantastic performance of the Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte, for narrator, piano, and strings, with David Pittman-Jennings an imposing soloist.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
A suitably bleak performance of this harrowing piece for narrator, male-voice choir, and orchestra. Claudio Abbado conducts the Vienna Philharmonic, and Gottfried Hornik narrates. It took me a moment or two to become accustomed to hearing English spoken in a fairly heavy German accent, but Hornik's performance is so mesmerising that that quickly stopped being an issue.
Available Formats: Presto CD, MP3, FLAC
Four discs of Schoenberg's complete songs, performed by various singers including Melanie Diener, Christa Mayer, and Markus Schäfer, all ably accompanied by Urs Liska at the piano. Highlights include an accomplished performance of the song cycle, Das Buch der hängenden Gärten and a witty, seductive performance of the Brettl-Lieder.
Available Formats: 4 CDs, MP3, FLAC
Jonathan Nott directs Accentus in a luxurious recording of Schoenberg's best-known choral work, Friede auf Erden, as well as lesser-known gems such as Dreimal tausend Jahre and De Profundis. To make the disc even more attractive, Nott also conducts Ensemble InterContemporain in an exciting, thoughtful performance of Chamber Symphony No. 1.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
Chamber and Instrumental Works
If you find the string orchestra version of this piece that I recommended above a bit excessive, then perhaps you might wish to try the original version for string sextet, performed here by the Raphael Ensemble. Of course it's a leaner sound than a full string orchestra, but that's not to say there's any lack of tone in this intensely dramatic reading.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC
Although much less frequently performed than Chamber Symphony No. 1, the Chamber Symphony No. 2 contains much fine music, and receives a thoroughly persuasive account here from the Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Robert Craft. Also on the disc is a creepy performance of Schoenberg's drama in four scenes, Die glückliche Hand, for solo baritone, chorus, and orchestra, and an amazingly virtuosic account of the Wind Quintet by the New York Woodwind Quintet.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC
These classic recordings by the LaSalle Quartet are easily my top recommendation. The Second String Quartet is by far the best known of the four, and is notable for its inclusion of a soprano voice in the third and fourth movements. The LaSalle players are joined by Margaret Price, who brings a remarkable range of tone and dynamics to her extraordinary performance.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
I can't imagine a more committed performance of Schoenberg's String Trio than the one offered here by the Leopold String Trio. It's thoroughly engaging, and hugely impressive from all three players.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC
Maurizio Pollini surveys Schoenberg's complete works for solo piano, bringing a masterfully sensitive touch to the Sechs Kleine Klavierstücke in particular. The disc also features Pollini as the soloist in the Piano Concerto, for which he is joined by Claudio Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic in a similarly authoritative reading.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
James Longstaffe - Head of Retail
