Schoenberg Violin Concerto; (A) Survivor from Warsaw

A hard-hitting, invaluable disc – an essential addition to the series

Record and Artist Details

Composer or Director: Arnold Schoenberg

Genre:

Orchestral

Label: Naxos

Media Format: CD or Download

Media Runtime: 0

Catalogue Number: 8 557528

Tracks:

Composition Artist Credit
(A) Survivor from Warsaw Arnold Schoenberg, Composer
Arnold Schoenberg, Composer
David Wilson-Johnson, Speaker
Philharmonia Orchestra
Robert Craft, Conductor
Simon Joly Chorale
Prelude to Genesis Arnold Schoenberg, Composer
Arnold Schoenberg, Composer
Philharmonia Orchestra
Robert Craft, Conductor
Simon Joly Chorale
Dreimal tausend Jahre Arnold Schoenberg, Composer
Arnold Schoenberg, Composer
Robert Craft, Conductor
Simon Joly Chorale
Psalm 130, 'De profundis' Arnold Schoenberg, Composer
Arnold Schoenberg, Composer
Robert Craft, Conductor
Simon Joly Chorale
Ode to Napoleon Arnold Schoenberg, Composer
Arnold Schoenberg, Composer
Fred Sherry, Cello
Jeremy Denk, Piano
Robert Craft, Conductor
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra Arnold Schoenberg, Composer
Arnold Schoenberg, Composer
Philharmonia Orchestra
Robert Craft, Conductor
Rolf Schulte, Violin
Hilary Hahn’s recent recording of Schoenberg’s Violin Concerto paraded cool beauty where others could find only sweat and tears. Yes, I’m overstating for effect – Louis Krasner and Israel Baker, for example, are among a few honourable exceptions.

Rolf Schulte and Robert Craft credibly project a work that sounds like an extension of Brahms’s language in terms of Schoenberg’s treatment of the orchestra and his melodic structures. Schulte’s performance reminds me of Huberman’s bon mot about Brahms setting the violin against the orchestra: it’s a gutsy, fiercely intense interpretation with next to nothing of Hahn’s centredness about it, though Craft’s sane but enthusiastic conducting assures a workable temperature beyond the solo line. I like it but prefer the sensation of Hahn holding her poise in the eye of a storm.

Most of Craft’s programme is fervid stuff. Both A Survivor from Warsaw and Ode to Napoleon are fired-up reactions to the Second World War, the former – a concise and startling music drama magnificently scored for full orchestra – is a chilling slice of narrative about Nazi brutality; the latter – a 15-minute chamber work that waves a clenched fist for the duration – is a bold indictment of totalitarianism, based on a poem by Byron. Both works place English recitations centre-stage, declaimed with clarity and dramatic zeal by David Wilson-Johnson.

Craft’s direction is very much “straight from the hip”, and the results are at the very least humbling. The Genesis Prelude is terse and powerful, and the two choral works, both at times starkly beautiful, take their prompts from Schoenberg’s Jewish roots.

This is not an easy programme to take in at a single sitting, but it’s a valuable one; an essential addition to Craft’s invaluable Schoenberg series.

Explore the world’s largest classical music catalogue on Apple Music Classical.

Included with an Apple Music subscription. Download now.

Gramophone Print

  • Print Edition

From £6.87 / month

Subscribe

Gramophone Digital Club

  • Digital Edition
  • Digital Archive
  • Reviews Database
  • Events & Offers

From £9.20 / month

Subscribe

Gramophone Reviews

  • Reviews Database

From £6.87 / month

Subscribe

Gramophone Digital Edition

  • Digital Edition
  • Digital Archive

From £6.87 / month

Subscribe

                              

If you are a library, university or other organisation that would be interested in an institutional subscription to Gramophone please click here for further information.