Schoenberg Pelleas and Melisande- recommended recordings?

[Barbirollians]

This work has rather passed me by . I am quite partial to late romantic Schoenberg however Gurrelieder and Verklarte Nacht so seeing that DG have released a live Boulez nine years after it was recorded ! Is that the one to choose or the earlier Boulez, ,Karajan , Mehta, Craft, Sinopoli or even Barbirolli ???

[Beef Oven]

This work has rather passed me by . I am quite partial to late romantic Schoenberg however Gurrelieder and Verklarte Nacht so seeing that DG have released a live Boulez nine years after it was recorded ! Is that the one to choose or the earlier Boulez, ,Karajan , Mehta, Craft, Sinopoli or even Barbirolli ???

Abbado on DG & Karajan on EMI are the two recordings that I have owned and adored for many years. Very different approaches of course.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I don't know the Mehta, and it's been years since I heard the Sinopoli, but there isn't a duff recording of P&M amongst the versions you name. Karajan (DG, BeefO?!) and Boulez' ERATO recording between them are my "favourite" ; Craft is excellent at any price, but especially so from NAXOS (an even cheaper one from Thielemann on BRILLIANT - ex-DG - which is very good) and Barbirolli won't disappoint (did he ever?).

Alright, put the gun away! If I have to select just one, it's Boulez on ERATO (don't know the new one).


EDIT: Hold on, Beefo? "Abbado on DG; Karajan on EMI" - you're not thinking of Debussy, are you? (PROFUSE apologies in advance if you aren't, but I don't know any recording by Abbado, and Herbie's Debussy P&M is on EMI!)

[Bryn]

... (DG, BeefO?!) ...

[Chris Newman]

I agree with ferneyhoughgeliebte. There isn't a duff to my knowledge. I have Barbirolli, HvK and Sinopoli: all very good, but if you want one go for HvK. It is the best recording he ever made; apart from being a marvellously glorious and sumptuous interpretation leading to its tragic denouement it has a truly realistic sound, whereas his recordings often sound contrived. P & M is like Richard Strauss at his finest.

[Beef Oven]

Oops! I was thinking of the Debussy opera, not the Schonberg piece (he had not yet changed the spelling of his name to Schoenberg when he composed P&M).

Then I'd go for Karajan BPO on DG and Sinopoli Philharmonia, also on DG. Boulez on Sony is good too.

[Curalach]

I also have a Chandos recording with the SNO and my old friend Matthias Bamert. It is now available differently coupled and as a download. http://www.chandos.net/details06.asp...r=CHAN%2010285
Good performance and recording.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Boulez on Sony is good too.

I hate to be pedantic (he lied) but Boulez never recorded P&M for CBS/Sony: his earliest recording was for Erato (last available as an APEX double CD set with a very good performance of ,the Orchestral Variations and the Concertos - the latter not so good, so perhaps Karajan is the better bet, as his is coupled with a sublime recording of Verklärte Nacht!)

[Bryn]

I hate to be pedantic (he lied) but Boulez never recorded P&M for CBS/Sony: his earliest recording was for Erato (last available as an APEX double CD set with a very good performance of ,the Orchestral Variations and the Concertos - the latter not so good, so perhaps Karajan is the better bet, as his is coupled with a sublime recording of Verklärte Nacht!)

To be even more pedantic, the possibility of the Erato P & M being issued "on" CBS was not that remote (though it did not happen). After all, CBS did issue other Boulez Erato recordings under the CBS label.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Very true!

[Chris Newman]

I hope this clarifies the Boulez versions.

The latest Deutche Gramophon Boulez version came out in February this year (Mahler Youth Orchestra) yet was recorded in 2003.

http://www.deutschegrammophon.com/cat/single?PRODUCT_NR=4779347

His Erato set with the Chicago SO came out 20 years ago and is now on the Apex label.

http://www.amazon.com/Schoenberg-Pelleas-Melisande-Arnold/dp/B000N3AWCA

For clarification Boulez made a fine recording for Sony of the complete DEBUSSY opera Pelleas et Melisande with Elizabeth Soderstrom, George Shirley, Donald MacIntyre , Yvonne Minton and David Ward and the Royal Opera, Covent Garden. I remember the performances vividly. The death of Pelleas was just one superb coup de theatre of many. I think this recording is causing some confusion as it is a completely different work as are Faure and Sibelius's.

[Petrushka]

I bought the latest Boulez recording last week and while I'm no expert it sounds great to me. The coupling of Wagner's Tristan Prelude (no Liebestod) makes for rather short measure for a CD these days but it's still a mystery why DG have had this hidden away in their vaults for 9 years.

As I say, I'm no expert as I don't know the work all that well but the new Boulez, predictably for him, offers crystal clear delineation of this great score.

[Beef Oven]

I hate to be pedantic (he lied) but Boulez never recorded P&M for CBS/Sony: his earliest recording was for Erato (last available as an APEX double CD set with a very good performance of ,the Orchestral Variations and the Concertos - the latter not so good, so perhaps Karajan is the better bet, as his is coupled with a sublime recording of Verklärte Nacht!)

I stand corrected. I have just checked my CDs and the Boulez is on Erato. I would have staked my life on it being on Sony!! I have at least 5 Schoenberg, Webern, Berg Boulez CDs on Sony.

[jayne lee wilson]

There's a sumptuous, overwhelming, Karajan-esque performance on the rather clumsily-named Acousense label, by Jonathan Darlington and the Duisberg Philharmonic, only available as a system-threatening 24-bit download from Linn (perhaps others). But Linn do charge too much for their Studio Masters really.

[Barbirollians]

Lots of them are on Spotify so I think I shall give the new Boulez a whirl first and then the Karajan and barbirolli