There is certainly room in the catalogue for a new version of Pelleas und Melisande – ideally for one that would combine the best of Karajan’s ardent romantic sweep with the best of Boulez’s forthrightness and rich recorded sound. However, this latest instalment in Robert Craft’s Schoenberg Edition by no means fills the bill. Although the ‘London Philharmonia’ (according to Koch International’s booklet) is a high-class orchestra, the playing rarely sounds as though it’s guided by a clear interpretative vision. Everything is too evenly projected and the range of characterisation constricted, as though the summit of everyone’s ambition has been to negotiate the intricacies of the score without mishap. Nor is there an adequate sense of space and transparency in the recording. The general impression is of an orchestral traffic jam.
Craft’s Pierrot is not competitive, either, though Anja Silja undoubtedly has the right qualifications for the vocal part: a full two-and-a-half octave range, the ability to suppress vibrato in order to approximate spoken timbre, and a highly developed sense of the histrionic and the weird. Where exact pitch is musically important she is almost always precise, and she appreciates the distinct flavour of the expressionistic Part 2 and the more crystalline Part 3. None the less I’m not convinced that she has this piece entirely in her system. Dynamic contrasts are too often effaced, especially in Part 1, and niceties of articulation are either glossed over or not used to support characterisation. In short she sounds inhibited. There are even occasional problems with the words themselves (in No 7 at track 1, 11'25'' and No 12 at track 2, 6'45'') and with rhythm (No 13 at track 2, 7'31''). The instrumental playing is competent but not especially vivid, and the CD places track 3 at the beginning of No 14 rather than No 15. In short, no competition here for Boulez’s latest recording with Christine Schafer.
How many converts will this disc win? How many devotees will it satisfy? Very few, I fear.'