This excellent coupling may at first seem one more of convenience
than intention, but it was Schoenberg himself who pointed towards
Brahms’ String Quartet op.51 no.1 in C minor as
being related to Verklärte Nacht in its compositional
techniques of ‘developing variation’ and forward
looking harmonic style. Familiarity with Verklärte Nacht
and the comparable sonorities of these string orchestra versions
make this relationship even more apparent. Even though Schoenberg
was born only a couple of years after Brahms died, this CD is
still very much an education in the short steps needed to find
common ground between seemingly disparate generations.
This is a straight transcription of Brahms’s quartet music,
with sensitive addition of the double bass part by the ever
entrepreneurial arranger and bassist Marijn van Prooijen. This
string quartet is of course encountered more often in its original
form on recordings, and an acceptance of the differences in
hearing the work through a larger ensemble will be a factor
for some listeners. I prefer to see this almost as an entirely
different work rather than an alternative version, as the communicative
nature of larger string groups is so widely at variance to that
of the soloists in a quartet. I’m a huge fan of Brahms,
but in many ways I prefer the lower-impact of intensity from
the string orchestra in this context, and will take the light
touch of collective sections rather than the intense scrubbing
of a solo part taken too seriously. This is by no means a sit-back
and enjoy read-through, but the lines of the music come across
more objectively and homogeneously, and I find myself appreciating
Brahms the composer more than the individual qualities of one
or other quartet or performer. The warmth of the second movement
Romanze is a delight for instance, and the following
Allegretto takes on a lightness of tread which is expressive
of relatively untroubled and almost pastoral circumstances.
The drama of the final Allegro takes on a quasi-symphonic
scale, and, while admitting this version doesn’t substitute
for the best of the string quartet recordings available I would
consider it a valid alternative, and have a strong feeling it
will be played more often.
Any new recording of the string orchestra version of Schoenberg’s
Verklärte Nacht has to go up against the almost
cataclysmically passionate recording made in the 1970s by Herbert
von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic, now available on Deutsche
Grammophon’s ‘Originals’ re-release edition
457 721-2. This is such a dramatic recording that it might even
be considered ‘over the top’ these days, and the
massed strings of the Berlin Philharmonic are certainly intended
to pack a symphonic punch, with a good deal less concession
made for the contrasting chamber-musical elements of solo intimacy
in the score. This is where the Amsterdam Sinfonietta has an
advantage in the opening minutes, with those string-quartet
moments having genuine emotional impact, rather than being sections
of almost embarrassing thinness, the soloists recessed and swept
aside by the full orchestra as soon as possible. These are comparative
values of course, but with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta the texture
and qualities of solo strings being reinforced is apparent in
the transparency of the recording where the glossy sweep of
von Karajan’s sonic picture gives the opposite effect.
The added advantage of greater clarity is in the tighter nature
of the bass lines. Where the Berlin recording is sometimes rather
boomy and indistinct the greater clarity of the Amsterdam version
wins out where the bass line is swifter moving; its relevance
to restlessly shifting harmonies more connected. Somewhere in
between, a comparison with the recording by Nimbus with William
Boughton and the English String Orchestra on NI 5151 shows a
more up-front balance for the solo strings, but the vastness
of the Birmingham University Great Hall further conveys an almost
infinite stadium-full of players. This is a recording full of
atmosphere and one which I still also very much enjoy for a
fine Richard Strauss Metamorphosen, but the overall level
of intensity in the solo passages has too many moments of perceived
uncertainty, and the strange general effect of the recording
is one which removes it as a first choice.
The Amsterdam Sinfonietta certainly doesn’t lack weight
where Schoenberg demands it, and there is all of the emotional
turmoil and dramatic turbulence one could ask for in this performance.
‘Transfigured Night’ takes its inspiration from
Richard Dehmel’s eponymous and for its time controversially
sensual poem. Schoenberg’s intention was to convey ‘nature
and human feelings’ rather than be a programmatic drama,
though the structure of the piece does closely follow that of
the poem. The sense of narrative in this recording is one of
its strong features, and the orchestra paces and colours the
dramatic sequence very effectively: the chill of the opening
moonlit grove transformed into the welcome embrace and ‘hohe,
helle Nacht’ of the conclusion. There are some almost
unavoidable on-the-edge moments at maximum tumult with the journey
in between these magic moments, and the Amsterdam Sinfonietta
doesn’t wear its heart quite as closely to its sleeve
as Karajan or some of the best sextet recordings, but the refinement
in the playing is another quality which can be relished in this
performance. This is the kind of richly expressive performance
which has long-term staying power rather than gut-wrenching
impact.
This is a nicely presented, beautifully produced and easily
recommendable recording which, as might be expected, flourishes
best in its SACD mode. The orchestra is not recorded too closely,
and the surround recording gives an accurate ambient feel, taking
you into the generously expansive and historic space of the
Philharmonie in Haarlem. The definition and dynamics are perfectly
acceptable in stereo, but this disc’s full glory really
is best appreciated as it opens out through a decent SA system.
Dominy Clements
Amsterdam Sinfonietta 
[63:23] 
