Berg – Lulu Suite, Altenberg-Lieder (APE)

Performer: Margaret Price
Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Claudio Abbado
Composer: Alban Berg
Audio CD
SPARS Code: A-D
Number of Discs: 1
Format: APE (image+cue)
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Size: 275 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes

01. Lulu Suite – 1. Rondo
02. Lulu Suite – 2. Ostinato
03. Lulu Suite – 3. Lulu’s Song
04. Lulu Suite – 4. Variations
05. Lulu Suite – 5. Adagio
06. 3 Pieces for Orchestra, Op.6 – 1. Praeludium (Prelude)
07. 3 Pieces for Orchestra, Op.6 – 2. Reigen (Round Dance)
08. 3 Pieces for Orchestra, Op.6 – 3. Marsch (March)
09. 5 Orchesterlieder nach Ansichtskartentexten von Peter Altenberg – 1. Seele, wie bist du schöner
10. 5 Orchesterlieder nach Ansichtskartentexten von Peter Altenberg – 2. Sahst du nach dem Gewitterregen
11. 5 Orchesterlieder nach Ansichtskartentexten von Peter Altenberg – 3. Über die Grenzen des All
12. 5 Orchesterlieder nach Ansichtskartentexten von Peter Altenberg – 4. Nichts ist gekommen
13. 5 Orchesterlieder nach Ansichtskartentexten von Peter Altenberg – 5. Hier ist Friede

So-called “modern” music never sounded so beautiful!

This recording is remarkable in that while Abbado, and the wonderful London Symphony Orchestra’s players, are playing mostly atonal music that can seem downright strange, dissonant, and strident, especially to ears that are not used to Berg, they have no trouble conveying the beauty, lusciousness, and excitement of much of this music. I find this particularly true in the beginning and end of the “Lulu Suite,” the final movement (“Marsch”) of Berg’s “Three Pieces for Orchestra,” and the final selection of the five “Altenberg” lieder. Yet, the entire recording is a masterpiece! In some of the “Lulu Suite,” and all of the five lieder after Altenberg, Abbado, and the orchestra, are abetted by the beautiful, and insightful, singing of a young Margaret Price, then quite in her prime. Especially in the Altenberg, Miss Price, whose German diction is flawless, lives up to the highest calling of her art, in that, through her dedication and total immersion in these songs, she gives them a relevance and immediacy, that should help even those most adverse to modern and atonal music, find them insightful and thought-provoking.