Search - Berg, Marshall, Hass :: 7 Early Songs

Spectacular, Rare, and Out of Print...

Sébastien Melmoth | Hôtel d'Alsace, PARIS | 07/22/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

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This rare disc features both the original versions of the Seven Early Songs for soprano and piano--(in this case, Margaret Marshall and the wonderful Geoffrey Parsons), and the later (1928) orchestrated version, which is most frequently heard. In this reading we have Herbert Blomstedt conducting the North German Radio SO with soprano Kari Lövaas.



The star piece here is of course Berg's concert aria Der Wein in a German translation by Rhenish Symbolist Stefan George Secret Germany: Stefan George and His Circle from Baudelaire's exquisite Le Vin section of his magnum opus les Fleurs du Mal The Flowers of Evil (Oxford World's Classics) . This quarter-hour work is virtually a chamber piece employing a small but colourfully rich orchestra, which includes a sensuously lugubrious saxophone. Too, there is a Boulez reading: Alban Berg: Lulu Suite/The Wine/Lyric Suite . And it can be found in DGG's complete set: Alban Berg Collection / Various (Coll) . All highly recommended.

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