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Music and Arts Programs of America

Schoenberg: Cabaret Songs, Lieder / Bryn-Julson, Oppens

$19.99 Only 3 left

Details

Composer
SCHOENBERG, ARNOLD
Artist
Ursula, Phyllis, Oppens, Bryn-Julson
Format
CD
Label
Music and Arts Programs of America
Released
Aug 19, 2013
Catalog #
MUA650
UPC
017685065026

About

Phyllis Bryn-Julson has been America's foremost Lieder and oratorio singer for decades; her sensitivity to texts and intelligent singing, along with the natural beauty of her voice, have been matched by no other singer. But Schoenberg's Cabaret Songs (Brettllieder), written for a Berlin nightclub—virtually his only means of support during 1901—need a young, teasing chanteuse to express their coy, fey, often erotic sentiments. No problem: Bryn-Julson becomes that chanteuse for these 1990 recordings. She does not go as far as Marni Nixon, who mimics a childish voice in her 1970s RCA LP of these songs, going over the line into caricature. Accompanist Ursula Oppens, a great artist in her own right, seems not to share the cabaret atmosphere; her grand piano sounds as if it belonged on the concert stage, which is really the case for these songs nowadays. The differing attitudes do not compromise these fine performances. Unfortunately, this disc omits one of Schoen-berg's eight cabaret songs, Nachtwandler, because it calls for piccolo, trumpet, and snare drum as well as piano; Nixon includes it, as does Dorothy Dorrow on an Etcetera disc {Fanfare 12:3).

In the 1899 Four Songs, op. 2, Schoenberg writes in the late-Romantic style of Brahms and Wolf. Bryn-Julson's true pitch is a blessing to the ear after Susanne Lange's velvety but unreliable mezzo {Fanfare 14:3). The Book of the Hanging Gardens gets an exceptional performance; Bryn-Julson makes every word intelligible, her precise diction aided by the digital recording. Jan De-Gaetani, in another fine performance, goes in for more exotic vocal effects, at the cost of some intelligibility; perhaps the loss is also due to the analog Nonesuch recording (also Fanfare 14:3). This disc's otherwise excellent recording goes momentarily over the edge on the final word of Erhebung in op. 2, as the engineer underestimates the joint power of this voice and this piano. The close-up sound is totally appropriate for the heavy atmosphere of op. 15, and the cabaret songs are recorded with more space. The booklet includes texts of all these songs, with English translations. Those who have Jan DeGaetani's Nonesuch disc of Pierrot lunaire already possess a superb Book of the Hanging Gardens; the stronger coupling makes that disc the more generally recommendable, but there will be many who will want to hear Phyllis Bryn-Julson's views on all this music.

-- James H. North, FANFARE [1/1992]

Tracklist 26 tracks

  1. 1 No. 6. Galathea 02:42
    Track
    1
    Title
    No. 6. Galathea
    Duration
    02:42
    Composer
    Arnold Schoenberg
    Performer
    Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Ursula Oppens
  2. 2 No. 7. Gigerlette 02:02
    Track
    2
    Title
    No. 7. Gigerlette
    Duration
    02:02
    Composer
    Arnold Schoenberg
    Performer
    Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Ursula Oppens
  3. 3 No. 1. Der genugsame Liebhaber 02:33
    Track
    3
    Title
    No. 1. Der genugsame Liebhaber
    Duration
    02:33
    Composer
    Arnold Schoenberg
    Performer
    Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Ursula Oppens
  4. 4 No. 2. Einfaltiges Lied 01:52
    Track
    4
    Title
    No. 2. Einfaltiges Lied
    Duration
    01:52
    Composer
    Arnold Schoenberg
    Performer
    Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Ursula Oppens
  5. 5 No. 5. Mahnung 03:37
    Track
    5
    Title
    No. 5. Mahnung
    Duration
    03:37
    Composer
    Arnold Schoenberg
    Performer
    Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Ursula Oppens
  6. 6 No. 4. Jedem des Seine 04:05
    Track
    6
    Title
    No. 4. Jedem des Seine
    Duration
    04:05
    Composer
    Arnold Schoenberg
    Performer
    Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Ursula Oppens
  7. 7 No. 8. Seit ich so viele Weiber sah 02:56
    Track
    7
    Title
    No. 8. Seit ich so viele Weiber sah
    Duration
    02:56
    Composer
    Arnold Schoenberg
    Performer
    Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Ursula Oppens
  8. 8 No. 1. Erwartung 03:58
    Track
    8
    Title
    No. 1. Erwartung
    Duration
    03:58
    Composer
    Arnold Schoenberg
    Performer
    Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Ursula Oppens
  9. 9 No. 2. Schenk mir deinen goldenen Kamm 03:13
    Track
    9
    Title
    No. 2. Schenk mir deinen goldenen Kamm
    Duration
    03:13
    Composer
    Arnold Schoenberg
    Performer
    Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Ursula Oppens
  10. 10 No. 3. Erhebung 00:57
    Track
    10
    Title
    No. 3. Erhebung
    Duration
    00:57
    Composer
    Arnold Schoenberg
    Performer
    Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Ursula Oppens
  11. 11 No. 4. Waldsonne 02:39
    Track
    11
    Title
    No. 4. Waldsonne
    Duration
    02:39
    Composer
    Arnold Schoenberg
    Performer
    Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Ursula Oppens
  12. 12 I. Unterm Schutz von dichten Blattergrunden 02:36
    Track
    12
    Title
    I. Unterm Schutz von dichten Blattergrunden
    Duration
    02:36
    Composer
    Arnold Schoenberg
    Performer
    Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Ursula Oppens
  13. 13 II. Hain in diesen Paradiesen 01:28
    Track
    13
    Title
    II. Hain in diesen Paradiesen
    Duration
    01:28
    Composer
    Arnold Schoenberg
    Performer
    Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Ursula Oppens
  14. 14 III. Als Neuling trat ich ein in dein Gehege 01:39
    Track
    14
    Title
    III. Als Neuling trat ich ein in dein Gehege
    Duration
    01:39
    Composer
    Arnold Schoenberg
    Performer
    Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Ursula Oppens
  15. 15 IV. Da meine Lippen reglos sind und brennen 01:47
    Track
    15
    Title
    IV. Da meine Lippen reglos sind und brennen
    Duration
    01:47
    Composer
    Arnold Schoenberg
    Performer
    Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Ursula Oppens
  16. 16 V. Saget mir, auf welchem Pfade 01:21
    Track
    16
    Title
    V. Saget mir, auf welchem Pfade
    Duration
    01:21
    Composer
    Arnold Schoenberg
    Performer
    Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Ursula Oppens
  17. 17 VI. Jedem Werke bin ich furder tot 01:06
    Track
    17
    Title
    VI. Jedem Werke bin ich furder tot
    Duration
    01:06
    Composer
    Arnold Schoenberg
    Performer
    Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Ursula Oppens
  18. 18 VII. Angst und Hoffen wechselnd mich beklemmen 01:08
    Track
    18
    Title
    VII. Angst und Hoffen wechselnd mich beklemmen
    Duration
    01:08
    Composer
    Arnold Schoenberg
    Performer
    Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Ursula Oppens
  19. 19 VIII. Wenn ich heut nicht deinen Leib beruhre 00:48
    Track
    19
    Title
    VIII. Wenn ich heut nicht deinen Leib beruhre
    Duration
    00:48
    Composer
    Arnold Schoenberg
    Performer
    Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Ursula Oppens
  20. 20 IX. Streng ist uns das Gluck und sprode 01:45
    Track
    20
    Title
    IX. Streng ist uns das Gluck und sprode
    Duration
    01:45
    Composer
    Arnold Schoenberg
    Performer
    Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Ursula Oppens
  21. 21 X. Das schöne Beet betracht ich mir im Harren 02:13
    Track
    21
    Title
    X. Das schöne Beet betracht ich mir im Harren
    Duration
    02:13
    Composer
    Arnold Schoenberg
    Performer
    Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Ursula Oppens
  22. 22 XI. Als wir hinter dem bebluhmten Tore 02:41
    Track
    22
    Title
    XI. Als wir hinter dem bebluhmten Tore
    Duration
    02:41
    Composer
    Arnold Schoenberg
    Performer
    Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Ursula Oppens
  23. 23 XII. Wenn sich bei heiliger Ruh in tiefen Matten 02:11
    Track
    23
    Title
    XII. Wenn sich bei heiliger Ruh in tiefen Matten
    Duration
    02:11
    Composer
    Arnold Schoenberg
    Performer
    Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Ursula Oppens
  24. 24 XIII. Du lehnest wider eine Silberweide 01:45
    Track
    24
    Title
    XIII. Du lehnest wider eine Silberweide
    Duration
    01:45
    Composer
    Arnold Schoenberg
    Performer
    Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Ursula Oppens
  25. 25 XIV. Sprich nicht immer von dem Laub 00:41
    Track
    25
    Title
    XIV. Sprich nicht immer von dem Laub
    Duration
    00:41
    Composer
    Arnold Schoenberg
    Performer
    Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Ursula Oppens
  26. 26 XV. Wir bevolkerten die abend dustern Lauben 04:43
    Track
    26
    Title
    XV. Wir bevolkerten die abend dustern Lauben
    Duration
    04:43
    Composer
    Arnold Schoenberg
    Performer
    Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Ursula Oppens