Schoenberg: Six Songs for Soprano and Orchestra / Craft, Welch-Babidge

$13.99
Label
Naxos
Release Date
October 30, 2007
Format
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    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      SCHOENBERG, ARNOLD
    • ORCHESTRA / ENSEMBLE
      Philharmonia Orchestra
    • PERFORMER
      Robert Craft, Welch-Babidge, Wilson-Johnson, S
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      October 30, 2007
    • UPC
      747313252527
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      8557525
    • LABEL
      Naxos
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      1
    • GENRE
      Choral - Sacred
    Works ⌄

    1. No. 1. Natur (Nature)

      Composer: Arnold Schoenberg

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Performer: Jennifer Welch-Babidge

      Conductor: Robert Craft

    2. No. 2. Das Wappenschild (The Coat-of-Arms)

      Composer: Arnold Schoenberg

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Performer: Jennifer Welch-Babidge

      Conductor: Robert Craft

    3. No. 3. Sehnsucht (Longing)

      Composer: Arnold Schoenberg

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Performer: Jennifer Welch-Babidge

      Conductor: Robert Craft

    4. No. 4. Nie ward ich, Herrin, mud' (Ne'er, Mistress, did I weary)

      Composer: Arnold Schoenberg

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Performer: Jennifer Welch-Babidge

      Conductor: Robert Craft

    5. No. 5. Voll jener Susse (Filled with that sweetness)

      Composer: Arnold Schoenberg

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Performer: Jennifer Welch-Babidge

      Conductor: Robert Craft

    6. No. 6. Wenn Voglein klagen (When little birds twitter)

      Composer: Arnold Schoenberg

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Performer: Jennifer Welch-Babidge

      Conductor: Robert Craft

    7. Friede auf Erden (Peace on Earth), Op. 13

      Composer: Arnold Schoenberg

      Ensemble: Simon Joly Chorale

      Conductor: Robert Craft

    8. No. 1. Hemmung (Inhibitions)

      Composer: Arnold Schoenberg

      Ensemble: Simon Joly Chorale

      Conductor: Robert Craft

    9. No. 2. Das Gesetz (The Law)

      Composer: Arnold Schoenberg

      Ensemble: Simon Joly Chorale

      Conductor: Robert Craft

    10. No. 3. Ausdrucksweise (Expression)

      Composer: Arnold Schoenberg

      Ensemble: Simon Joly Chorale

      Conductor: Robert Craft

    11. No. 4. Gluck (Happiness)

      Composer: Arnold Schoenberg

      Ensemble: Simon Joly Chorale

      Conductor: Robert Craft

    12. No. 5. Landsknechte (Mercenaries)

      Composer: Arnold Schoenberg

      Ensemble: Simon Joly Chorale

      Conductor: Robert Craft

    13. No. 6. Verbundenheit

      Composer: Arnold Schoenberg

      Ensemble: Simon Joly Chorale

      Conductor: Robert Craft

    14. Ei, du Lutte (Oh, you little one)

      Composer: Arnold Schoenberg

      Ensemble: Simon Joly Chorale

      Conductor: Robert Craft

    15. Kol Nidre, Op. 39

      Composer: Arnold Schoenberg

      Ensemble: Simon Joly Chorale, Philharmonia Orchestra

      Performer: David Wilson-Johnson

      Conductor: Robert Craft

    16. Act II Scene 3, Bars 320-457: Tanz der Schlachter (Dance of the Butchers)

      Composer: Arnold Schoenberg

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Conductor: Robert Craft

    17. Act II Scene 3, Bars 671-820: Selig ist das Volk (70 Elders) - Du goldener Gott (A Young Girl) - Oh goldener Gott (4 Naked Virgins)

      Composer: Arnold Schoenberg

      Ensemble: Simon Joly Chorale, Philharmonia Orchestra

      Performer: Eleanor Meynell, Carolyn Foulkes, Kim Porter, Frances Jellard, Deborah Miles-Johnson

      Conductor: Robert Craft

    18. Act II Scene 3, Bars 824-912: The Wild Dance

      Composer: Arnold Schoenberg

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Conductor: Robert Craft




SCHOENBERG 6 Songs, op. 8. 1 Friede auf Erden. 2 6 Pieces, op. 35. 3 Ei, du Lütte. 4 Kol Nidre. 5 Moses und Aron: act II, sc. 3 excerpts 6 • Robert Craft, cond; Jennifer Welch-Babidge (sop); 1,6 David Wilson-Johnson (rabbi-narr); 5 Simon Joly Chorale; 2–6 Philharmonia O 1,5,6 • NAXOS 8.557525 (78:31)


It’s our job to listen carefully to every recording, but I sometimes put on a disc—for its first hearing—while doing something else, just to let its music seep into my (un?) consciousness. My immediate response was: This is Schoenberg ? Most of the Six Songs, op. 8, of 1903–04 have somehow escaped this Schoenberg-lover; they are all flat-out gorgeous. The Brahms-loving composer leaned more on Wagner here, the rich harmonies only a touch more adventurous than his. The vocal writing is thoroughly operatic; these could be six dramatic arias, each with an orchestral prelude and postlude. The orchestrations are varied and colorful, hinting at Zemlinsky and even Tchaikovsky, as well as The Ring . The results are closer to Gurrelieder than to anything else of Schoenberg. Perhaps the popularity of these songs has been limited because they are not a united song cycle but six separate works, or perhaps it’s because no one has sung them like Welch-Babidge (there are recordings by Anya Silya and by Eva Marton). I was not particularly impressed by her Marzelline in the Met’s Fidelio , but she is magnificent here, displaying full, rounded tones over a wide register and dynamic range, consistently landing on pitch across many leaps. Her voice recalls a young Phyllis Bryn-Julson, although I never heard the latter tackle dramatic writing with such a high tessitura. Each song is a major piece; they vary in length from one-and-a-half to nearly six minutes, spanning over 25 minutes altogether.


This is the a cappella original of Friede auf Erden (“Peace on Earth”), written in 1907 when Schoenberg was searching for new ways but hadn’t yet settled on any. Craft’s chorus manages the difficult music well, but the piece still fails to make much of an effect. The Six Pieces for male chorus (“Inhibitions,” “The Law,” “Expression,” “Happiness,” “Mercenaries,” and “Obligation”) are no more successful. Schoenberg wrote his own texts, which are poorly expressed pieces of vague social and religious philosophy—at least in English translation; it’s difficult to imagine what he had in mind. The music may be more interesting to analyze than to hear; Craft does so at length in his always-educational program notes. Ei, du Lütte (“Oh, you little one”) is a brief, charming chorus written when Schoenberg was 21.


With Kol Nidre (1938) we return to top-notch Schoenberg—the return of the orchestra is equally welcome. The Kol Nidre is a Jewish liturgy; Schoenberg—writing in English—had objections to the historical text, but his modifications merely served to get his piece banned from use in synagogues. This performance is sensational, putting all others I have heard to shame. Craft and the Philharmonia realize all of the music’s oddly moving details, and Wilson-Johnson, who is a singer rather than an actor, gives a superb reading of the extensive, dramatic narration, a no-holds-barred emoting which works perfectly in this wild piece.


Three excerpts from “The Golden Calf at the Altar” scene of Moses und Aron are an odd filler, as there are several top-notch presentations of the opera on disc (and a superlative one on DVD; see Fanfare 31:2, page 344). Craft matches any of them but does not offer any special insight, nor does Welch-Babidge singing the Young Girl. The best part may be Craft’s notes: “An orgy follows, but at this point the excerpt ends.” And so does the disc.


The generally excellent recordings come from six sessions held from 2003 to 2006, all at Abbey Road Studio One. The orchestral songs are very well balanced; Welch-Babidge remains in front of the orchestra, yet instrumental details are always clear, and the whole has beauty and life. An awkward splice at 1:29 of the opening song is unfortunate. A major handicap to appreciating this all-vocal disc is the lack of texts. They are available, but only in German, at www.naxos.com/libretti/557525.htm. Sony’s two-CD set of Schoenberg choral music under Boulez (44571) has German and English texts for much of this music, but not the songs for soprano.


For the orchestral songs and Kol Nidre , a Want List candidate.


FANFARE: James H. North