Search - Arnold Schoenberg, Zubin Mehta, Christoph von Dohnányi :: Arnold Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht; Chamber Symphony; Variations; 5 Pieces; 6 Songs; Erwartung

Your 1-stop Schoenberg shop

Scott Spires | Prague, Czech Republic | 11/25/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Here's a great collection of essential Schoenberg. The conductors, Mehta and Dohnanyi, are totally in their element here, and the playing (by 3 great orchestras) and sound are excellent throughout.Some highlights: "Verklaerte Nacht," one of my all-time favorite sonic wallows, is given a slow, luxurious treatment, like a full-body massage. The thorny, hyper-modernist Variations Op. 31 sound romantic and colorful in Mehta's performance, with many layers of detail coming to the surface. The 5 Pieces Op. 16 also display a razor-sharp attention to detail within a pleasing, continuously evolving sound-picture. There's not a weak performance in the bunch. Far from sounding clinical, Schoenberg's lurid genius comes across with a passion that makes Mahler sound almost restrained."

A terrific bargain

Jeff D. Wolf | Abilene, TX | 05/10/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A first-rate budget compilation by London/Decca, with some of the best Schoenberg recordings available. I have five or six recordings of Schoenberg's ebullient, infectious little Chamber Symphony, and Mehta's 1968 recording is the one I keep coming back to. The same goes for Dohnanyi's unmatched recorded performance of Schoenberg's Five Pieces for Orchestra. And I'd much rather have Mehta's recording of Schoenberg's Variations for Orchestra than Karajan's grossly overrated one.



The performance of Schoenberg's Erwartung is impossible to fault, even if the music itself is less approachable and less eloquent than, say, Debussy's "Pelleas et Melisande." Given the incusion of Schoenberg's Chamber Symphony, Five Pieces for Orchestra, and Variations for Orchestra, London/Decca could have filled out a second disc with Sousa marches, and the set would still be a steal."