Alban BERG (1885-1935)
Lulu (1928-35) [126:45]
Lulu - Anneliese Rothenberger (soprano)
Countess Geschwitz - Kerstin Meyer (mezzo)
Dr. Schön - Toni Blankenheim (baritone)
Alwa - Gerhard Unger (tenor)
Schigolch - Kim Borg (baritone)
Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg/Leopold Ludwig
rec. live, 16-19 February and 15 March 1968, Hamburgischer
Staatsoper
EMI CLASSICS 9123302 [63:20 + 63:25]
Alban Berg’s Lulu is one of those breathtaking works of
art which comes around rarely - a piece which lies in wait and will leap out
at people, changing their view of 20th century music forever. Its
appeal lies in the horrors of its narrative, a kind of aversive love/hate
life/death scenario which grasps at the banality of our existence - for
which by comparison with Lulu’s life we can count ourselves fortunate.
Orientating myself to the qualities of this live recording I had a
listen to the Oehms Classics recording OC205 conducted by Stefan Anton Reck,
which is has plenty of the bumps and intensity you might expect and some
gripping vocal performances, holding onto its place as a leading contender.
Spread over three discs and with a reconstructed Act III, Jeffrey
Tate’s budget EMI version represents good value, though the female
voices are frequently more convincing than the men. There is an English
language version on the Chandos label conducted by Paul Daniel which is very
good, though the switch in language does change the nature of the vocal
parts irrevocably - more George Bellows than George Grosz. Pierre
Boulez’s Deutsche Grammophon recording is in a class of its own, and
to this day probably remains first choice for a CD only version (see r
eview).
This 1968 recording is going to be nobody’s first choice when
it comes to detail and refinement in terms of the recording and the
orchestra. The cymbal crash and drum at the outset knock us firmly into the
second-rate in this regard, and with a certain amount of wandering stereo
imagery, the occasional dip in volume and some distortion at dynamic
extremes, it is the character of the performance which will have to sell
this version.
As the blurb and booklet tell us, this performance was a significant
and daring Hamburg State Opera début for soprano Anneliese
Rothenberger. Her ‘charming’ image certainly didn’t seem
to fit with the role of Lulu but her acting surpassed expectations,
and in an interview in 1997 she looked back on this production with
affection: “I was amazed at how well it sounds … I really
don’t know how I learned all that in such a short time.” She
only sang the role 15 times, and in the end decided to “stick with
Mozart and Strauss”.
This is not only Rothenberger’s production and all of the
roles are taken powerfully, including a remarkable Schigolch from Kim Borg.
If you can listen through the rough edges there are great dramatic rewards
to be found in this at times brutal performance, showing up Jeffrey
Tate’s cast as really rather beige by comparison. The missing Act III
in this recording was substituted with the equivalent sections taken from
the Lulu Suite with added spoken texts. This is by no means as
satisfactory as the completion by Friedrich Cerha, but prevented the
production from ending up as a truncated two-acter and builds into quite a
moving final melodrama. Unless you’ve been hardened by horror movies,
the final three minutes will keep you awake at night.
Dominy Clements
Powerful, brutal and moving, but with plenty of rough edges.
Support us financially by purchasing this disc from |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|