Schoenberg Violin Concerto; (A) Survivor from Warsaw
A hard-hitting, invaluable disc – an essential addition to the series
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Arnold Schoenberg
Genre:
Orchestral
Label: Naxos
Magazine Review Date: 1/2009
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 0
Catalogue Number: 8 557528
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Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
(A) Survivor from Warsaw |
Arnold Schoenberg, Composer
Arnold Schoenberg, Composer David Wilson-Johnson, Speaker Philharmonia Orchestra Robert Craft, Conductor Simon Joly Chorale |
Prelude to Genesis |
Arnold Schoenberg, Composer
Arnold Schoenberg, Composer Philharmonia Orchestra Robert Craft, Conductor Simon Joly Chorale |
Dreimal tausend Jahre |
Arnold Schoenberg, Composer
Arnold Schoenberg, Composer Robert Craft, Conductor Simon Joly Chorale |
Psalm 130, 'De profundis' |
Arnold Schoenberg, Composer
Arnold Schoenberg, Composer Robert Craft, Conductor Simon Joly Chorale |
Ode to Napoleon |
Arnold Schoenberg, Composer
Arnold Schoenberg, Composer Fred Sherry, Cello Jeremy Denk, Piano Robert Craft, Conductor |
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra |
Arnold Schoenberg, Composer
Arnold Schoenberg, Composer Philharmonia Orchestra Robert Craft, Conductor Rolf Schulte, Violin |
Author: Rob Cowan
Rolf Schulte and Robert Craft credibly project a work that sounds like an extension of Brahms’s language in terms of Schoenberg’s treatment of the orchestra and his melodic structures. Schulte’s performance reminds me of Huberman’s bon mot about Brahms setting the violin against the orchestra: it’s a gutsy, fiercely intense interpretation with next to nothing of Hahn’s centredness about it, though Craft’s sane but enthusiastic conducting assures a workable temperature beyond the solo line. I like it but prefer the sensation of Hahn holding her poise in the eye of a storm.
Most of Craft’s programme is fervid stuff. Both A Survivor from Warsaw and Ode to Napoleon are fired-up reactions to the Second World War, the former – a concise and startling music drama magnificently scored for full orchestra – is a chilling slice of narrative about Nazi brutality; the latter – a 15-minute chamber work that waves a clenched fist for the duration – is a bold indictment of totalitarianism, based on a poem by Byron. Both works place English recitations centre-stage, declaimed with clarity and dramatic zeal by David Wilson-Johnson.
Craft’s direction is very much “straight from the hip”, and the results are at the very least humbling. The Genesis Prelude is terse and powerful, and the two choral works, both at times starkly beautiful, take their prompts from Schoenberg’s Jewish roots.
This is not an easy programme to take in at a single sitting, but it’s a valuable one; an essential addition to Craft’s invaluable Schoenberg series.
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