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WEBERN: Passacaglia / Symphony / Five Pieces
Naxos

WEBERN: Passacaglia / Symphony / Five Pieces

$19.99 Only 1 left

Details

Composer
WEBERN
Artist
Takuo, Yuasa
Format
CD
Label
Naxos
Released
Jan 01, 2002
Catalog #
8554841
UPC
636943484128

About

If you’re new to the music of Anton Webern, this superb budget CD is just the introduction you need. Until now, there’s been nothing much to tempt those unwilling to pay top price for Herbert von Karajan’s seminal recordings, or the equally engrossing and sometimes more revelatory DG remakes with the Berlin Philharmonic under Pierre Boulez. In contrast, Takuo Yuasa isn’t a household name, and his Ulster Orchestra isn’t in the big league, but don’t let those factors deter serious evaluation of this release alongside the best available alternatives.

Yuasa’s account of the Op. 1 Passacaglia affords striking evidence of the high quality of his ensemble. The playing is fine-grained and exact, and the cumulative effect of the performance is mightily impressive, with the vehement 16th variation especially telling. Webern’s Symphony Op. 21 may only last seven minutes or so, but Yuasa manages to pack a terrific wealth of detail and vast emotional range into its diminutive time-frame. There are some superb moments in the performance, none more shattering than the fearsome outburst from the first horn during the second section.

Equally shocking is the whip-crack violence Yuasa unleashes in the third of the Five Pieces Op. 10, played very fast and with impressive precision by this accomplished team. The awesome funeral march (No. 4 of the Six Pieces Op. 6) hasn’t quite the impact of Karajan’s, and Boulez’s is more monstrous yet; but Yuasa’s skill at building angst-ridden crescendos comes into its own in one of the finest of many outstanding moments on this recording. The muted trumpet solo in No. 5 (with celesta and glockenspiel) has the required eerie quality, and the uneasy stasis of the close is persuasively attained.

In sum, although the Ulster Orchestra’s solo and ensemble work is of high order, the principal benefit of the Karajan and Boulez recordings is that the Berliners produce playing of unrivalled tonal beauty side by side with those moments of near-seismic disturbance that are the true essence of Webern’s music. By choice, I’d opt for Boulez, whose more recent recordings are finer than DG’s earlier ones with Karajan; but Yuasa’s accounts have the spare, skeletal feel and expressive economy that makes them very rewarding indeed. An outstanding achievement.

— ClassicsToday.com (David Hurwitz)

Tracklist 20 tracks

  1. 1 Passacaglia, Op. 1 10:20
    Track
    1
    Title
    Passacaglia, Op. 1
    Duration
    10:20
    Composer
    Anton Webern
    Ensemble
    Ulster Orchestra
    Conductor
    Takuo Yuasa
  2. 2 Heftig bewegt, Tempo I 02:49
    Track
    2
    Title
    Heftig bewegt, Tempo I
    Duration
    02:49
    Composer
    Anton Webern
    Ensemble
    Ulster Orchestra
    Conductor
    Takuo Yuasa
  3. 3 Sehr langsam 02:14
    Track
    3
    Title
    Sehr langsam
    Duration
    02:14
    Composer
    Anton Webern
    Ensemble
    Ulster Orchestra
    Conductor
    Takuo Yuasa
  4. 4 Sehr lebhaft 00:46
    Track
    4
    Title
    Sehr lebhaft
    Duration
    00:46
    Composer
    Anton Webern
    Ensemble
    Ulster Orchestra
    Conductor
    Takuo Yuasa
  5. 5 Sehr langsam 01:37
    Track
    5
    Title
    Sehr langsam
    Duration
    01:37
    Composer
    Anton Webern
    Ensemble
    Ulster Orchestra
    Conductor
    Takuo Yuasa
  6. 6 In zarter bewegung 03:34
    Track
    6
    Title
    In zarter bewegung
    Duration
    03:34
    Composer
    Anton Webern
    Ensemble
    Ulster Orchestra
    Conductor
    Takuo Yuasa
  7. 7 Langsam 00:59
    Track
    7
    Title
    Langsam
    Duration
    00:59
    Composer
    Anton Webern
    Ensemble
    Ulster Orchestra
    Conductor
    Takuo Yuasa
  8. 8 Bewegt 01:16
    Track
    8
    Title
    Bewegt
    Duration
    01:16
    Composer
    Anton Webern
    Ensemble
    Ulster Orchestra
    Conductor
    Takuo Yuasa
  9. 9 Massig 00:55
    Track
    9
    Title
    Massig
    Duration
    00:55
    Composer
    Anton Webern
    Ensemble
    Ulster Orchestra
    Conductor
    Takuo Yuasa
  10. 10 Sehr massig 04:15
    Track
    10
    Title
    Sehr massig
    Duration
    04:15
    Composer
    Anton Webern
    Ensemble
    Ulster Orchestra
    Conductor
    Takuo Yuasa
  11. 11 Sehr langsam 02:37
    Track
    11
    Title
    Sehr langsam
    Duration
    02:37
    Composer
    Anton Webern
    Ensemble
    Ulster Orchestra
    Conductor
    Takuo Yuasa
  12. 12 Langsam 01:48
    Track
    12
    Title
    Langsam
    Duration
    01:48
    Composer
    Anton Webern
    Ensemble
    Ulster Orchestra
    Conductor
    Takuo Yuasa
  13. 13 Sehr ruhig und zart 00:37
    Track
    13
    Title
    Sehr ruhig und zart
    Duration
    00:37
    Composer
    Anton Webern
    Ensemble
    Ulster Orchestra
    Conductor
    Takuo Yuasa
  14. 14 Lebhaft und zart bewegt 00:32
    Track
    14
    Title
    Lebhaft und zart bewegt
    Duration
    00:32
    Composer
    Anton Webern
    Ensemble
    Ulster Orchestra
    Conductor
    Takuo Yuasa
  15. 15 Sehr langsam und ausserst zart 01:44
    Track
    15
    Title
    Sehr langsam und ausserst zart
    Duration
    01:44
    Composer
    Anton Webern
    Ensemble
    Ulster Orchestra
    Conductor
    Takuo Yuasa
  16. 16 Fliessend, ausserst zart 00:32
    Track
    16
    Title
    Fliessend, ausserst zart
    Duration
    00:32
    Composer
    Anton Webern
    Ensemble
    Ulster Orchestra
    Conductor
    Takuo Yuasa
  17. 17 Sehr fliessend 01:01
    Track
    17
    Title
    Sehr fliessend
    Duration
    01:01
    Composer
    Anton Webern
    Ensemble
    Ulster Orchestra
    Conductor
    Takuo Yuasa
  18. 18 Ruhig, schreitend 05:28
    Track
    18
    Title
    Ruhig, schreitend
    Duration
    05:28
    Composer
    Anton Webern
    Ensemble
    Ulster Orchestra
    Conductor
    Takuo Yuasa
  19. 19 Variationen 02:23
    Track
    19
    Title
    Variationen
    Duration
    02:23
    Composer
    Anton Webern
    Ensemble
    Ulster Orchestra
    Conductor
    Takuo Yuasa
  20. 20 Variations, Op. 30 06:57
    Track
    20
    Title
    Variations, Op. 30
    Duration
    06:57
    Composer
    Anton Webern
    Ensemble
    Ulster Orchestra
    Conductor
    Takuo Yuasa