| This is a Second Viennese School disc that revels in extremes: for example, there could hardly be a greater contrast than that between Schoenberg's very early, very anodyne piece for violin and piano (it could easily be mistaken for Schubert at his least poetic) and his last instrumental work, the forceful, economical Phantasy. Even so, the playing throughout is so refined and expressive that the later music's eroded but still potent links with the romantic tradition are unmistakable. The result is fascinating, and one of the best releases of its kind for some years. Mahler's honorary membership of the Schoenberg school - as early patron and model - is acknowledged in his own youthful movement for piano quartet, an evocative mixture of Brahmsian and Wagnerian elements that showed the way forward with exemplary clarity. As for Schoenberg's pupils, Webern's rapid progress from languid late romanticism (in the two cello pieces of 1899) to aphoristic expressionism is powerfully displayed, the close placement of the cello in the Op. II pieces adding to the larger-than-life impression of these performances. Sabine Meyer's clarinet is also closely recorded in the Berg pieces, but music so rich in striking incident can stand such immediacy, as can Berg's arrangement of the Chamber Concerto's slow movement for clarinet, violin and piano. Nevertheless, the finest music-making of all is heard in Schoenberg's Trio, an account in which technical mastery and expressive fantasy combine to brilliant effect. Comparison with the recently issued Arditti performances of the Trio and the Phantasy confirm that Gidon Kremer and friends prefer a more romantic style, and a more consistent sense of flow, in recordings richer and fuller in sound than those on the two-disc Auvidis Montaigne set, imposing though the Arditti are in this undeniably radical music. lean live happily with both, but for a single-disc selection - and despite the pianist's brief misreading of a clef change in Webern's Op. 7 No. 2 - this new release from DG is out in front. |
| Works on This Recording
1. Quartet for Piano and Strings in A minor by Gustav Mahler Performer: Oleg Maisenberg (Piano), Clemens Hagen (Cello), Veronika Hagen (Viola), Gidon Kremer (Violin) Period: Romantic Written: ?1876-78; Vienna, Austria 2. Trio for Violin, Viola and Cello, Op. 45 by Arnold Schoenberg Performer: Veronika Hagen (Viola), Clemens Hagen (Cello), Gidon Kremer (Violin) Period: 20th Century Written: 1946; USA 3. Fantasy for Violin and Piano, Op. 47 by Arnold Schoenberg Performer: Gidon Kremer (Violin), Oleg Maisenberg (Piano) Period: 20th Century Written: 1949; USA 4. Pieces (2) for Cello and Piano, M 1 - M 2 by Anton Webern Performer: Clemens Hagen (Cello), Oleg Maisenberg (Piano) Period: 20th Century Written: 1899; Preglhof 5. Pieces (4) for Violin and Piano, Op. 7 by Anton Webern Performer: Gidon Kremer (Violin), Oleg Maisenberg (Piano) Period: 20th Century Written: 1910/1914; Preglhof 6. Little Pieces (3) for Cello and Piano, Op. 11 by Anton Webern Performer: Clemens Hagen (Cello), Oleg Maisenberg (Piano) Period: 20th Century Written: 1914; Vienna, Austria 7. Sonata for Cello and Piano, M 202 by Anton Webern Performer: Clemens Hagen (Cello), Oleg Maisenberg (Piano) Period: 20th Century Written: 1914; Vienna, Austria 8. Pieces (4) for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 5 by Alban Berg Performer: Sabine Meyer (Clarinet), Oleg Maisenberg (Piano) Period: 20th Century Written: 1913; Austria 9. Adagio for Violin, Clarinet and Piano by Alban Berg Performer: Oleg Maisenberg (Piano), Sabine Meyer (Clarinet), Gidon Kremer (Violin) Period: 20th Century Written: 1935; Austria 10. Piece for Violin and Piano in D minor by Arnold Schoenberg Performer: Gidon Kremer (Violin), Oleg Maisenberg (Piano) Period: 20th Century |