a r t i s t : Arnold Schoenberg
t i t l e : Moses und Aron
d a t e : 1996
l a b e l : Deutsche Grammophon
g e n r e : Avantgarde
r l s. d a t e : Mar/2007
t r a c k s : 25
b i t r a t e : VBRkbps
s i z e : 136,6 MB
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Conductor: Pierre Boulez
Moses: David Pittman-Jennings
Aron: Chris Merrit
Royal Concertgrbouw Orchestra
In every respect, this Netherlands Opera production of
Schoenberg's problematic yet most personal stage work
outclasses Pierre Boulez's 1974 BBC recording on Sony. The
conductor elicits staggeringly precise yet supple and flexible
playing from the Concertgebouw, quite different from the
stentorian sheen of Sir Georg Solti/Chicago, even though the
all-important chorus is heard to better advantage in the
latter. As Moses, David Pittman-Jennings's eloquent
Sprechtstimme emphasizes the intensity of his character's
inner vision rather than his outward frustration. Chris
Merritt's Aron, though, is marred by a wobbly high tessitura.
While the perfect Moses und Aron still eludes our grasp, DG's
superb engineering allows more of the uncompromising score to
be heard than ever before. --Jed Distler
Wiki entry:
Moses und Aron (Moses and Aaron) is a two-act opera by Arnold
Schoenberg with a third act unfinished. The German libretto
was by the composer after the Book of Exodus.
Moses und Aron has its roots in Schoenberg's earlier agitprop
play, Der Biblische Weg (The Biblical Way, 1926-27), which
represents a response in dramatic form to the growing
anti-Jewish movements in the German-speaking world after 1848
and a deeply personal expression of his own "Jewish identity"
crisis. The latter began with a face-to-face encounter with
anti-Semitic agitation at Mattsee, near Salzburg, during the
summer of 1921, when he was forced to leave the resort because
he was a Jew, although he actually converted to Protestantism
in 1898. It was a traumatic experience to which Schoenberg
would frequently refer, and of which a first mention appears
in a letter addressed to Kandinsky (April 1923): "I have at
last learnt the lesson that has been forced upon me this year,
and I shall never forget it. It is that I am not a German, not
a European, indeed perhaps scarcely even a human being (at
least, the Europeans prefer the worst of their race to me),
but that I am a Jew."
Schoenberg's statement echoed that of Mahler, a convert to
Catholicism, some years earlier: "I am thrice homeless: as a
Bohemian among Austrians, as an Austrian among the Germans,
and as a Jew throughout the entire world. I am an intruder
everywhere, welcome nowhere."
The Mattsee experience was destined to change the course of
Schoenberg's life and to influence his musical creativity,
leading him first to write Der Biblische Weg, in which the
central protagonist Max Aruns (Moses-Aaron) is partially
modelled on Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern political
Zionism; then, to proclaim in Moses und Aron his
uncompromising monotheistic creed; and finally, upon his
official return to Judaism in 1933, to embark for more that a
decade on a relentless mission to save European Jewry from
impending doom. Der Biblische Weg should be considered as both
a persoal and political play. Moses, at the center of the
biblical Exodus story had become from the time of Heine to
that of Herzl and Schoenberg, the ideal incarnation of a
national and spiritual redeemer.[1]
From the sketchy outline of the play (1926) to its final
version (1927) and to the inception of Moses und Aron as an
oratorio (1928) and then into an opera, it was composed
between 1930 and 1932. Despite its unfinished status it is
widely regarded as Schoenberg's master work.
Note: Schoenberg's title omitted an 'A' in Aaron's name
because the composer was a severely superstitious
triskadekaphobe. "Moses und Aaron" would have caused the title
to have a total of 13 letters.
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CD1
01-Einleitung. Sehr langsam [00:41]
02-Einziger, ewiger, allgegenwaertiger [07:51]
03-Du Sohn meiner Vaeter [08:29]
04-Ich hab' ihn gesehn [06:23]
05-Bringt ihr Erhoerung [00:46]
06-Der Einzige, Ewige, Allmaechtige [02:19]
07-Schliesset die Augen [03:46]
08-Allmaechtiger, meine Kraft ist zu Ende [04:05]
09-Ein Wunder erfuellt uns mit Schrecken [01:12]
10-Dein Stab zwingt uns [05:08]
11-Alles fuer die Freiheit [06:42]
12-Er hat uns auserwaehlt! [03:00]
CD2
01-Zwischenspiel - Wo ist Moses [01:47]
02-Vierzig Tage liegen wir nun schon hier! [03:23]
03-Wo ist Moses [07:20]
04-Dieses Bild bezeugt [04:09]
05-Tanz der Schlaechter [02:14]
06-O Goetterbild, du strahlst [03:38]
07-Frei unter eigenen Herren [04:47]
08-Orgie der Trunkenheit und des Tanzes [02:14]
09-Selig ist das Volk - Orgie der Vernichtung und des [02:09]
Selbstmordes
10-Du goldener Gott [04:03]
11-Erotische Orgie [05:17]
12-Moses steigt vom Berg herab [01:22]
13-Aron, was hast du getan [12:49]
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