„Die erste Aufnahme, die Stefan Blunier mit dem Beethoven Orchester Bonn realisiert, widmet sich komplett dem Komponisten Arnold Schönberg. Mit den fünf Orchesterstücken op. 16, dem Notturno für Harfe, Solo-Violine und Streicher, den 6 Liedern op.8 und der Bearbeitung von Bachs Präludium und Fuge BWV 552, präsentiert das Beethoven Orchester Bonn Werke aus vier wichtigen Schaffensphasen des österreichischen Tondichters.

Eine Ersteinspielung auf dieser CD ist Schönbergs Notturno für Harfe, Solo-Violine und Streicher, vom Bonner Orchester in zarten Farben gezeichnet. Das Werk galt lange als verschollen und war nur durch eine Zeitungsnotiz aus dem Jahre 1896 überhaupt belegt. Stefan Blunier präsentiert dieses Kleinod jetzt gemeinsam mit Liviu Casleanu (Violine) und Johanna Reithmayer (Harfe).

Während das Notturno sich noch deutlich in der Harmonik der Spätromantik befindet, führen die 6 Lieder op.8 den Hörer in eine Übergangsphase, die der Komponist selbst später als „Schwebezustand“ bezeichnete. Die junge Sopranistin Manuela Uhl, jüngst ins Ensemble des Berliner Oper aufgenommen und von der Berliner Morgenpost als „wahres Stimmwunder“ bezeichnet, interpretiert diese eindringlichen Vokalwerke mit intensiver Stimmgewalt. Mit den 5 Orchesterstücken op.16 dokumentiert Schönberg seine Ankunft in der Atonalität. 1909 vollendet, bedient sich Arnold Schönberg in diesen Werken einer gänzlich neuen Tonsprache, die sich sowohl auf die formale als auch auf die inhaltliche Seite seiner Musik auswirkte. Schönberg selbst sprach von einem „ununterbrochenen Wechsel von Farben, Rhythmen und Stimmungen“. 

Musikalische Bearbeitungen gehören zur ganz persönlichen musikalischen Genese Arnold Schönbergs und seine Fassung von Präludium und Fuge BWV 552 zeigt, wie stark er in der Klangtradition des 19. Jahrhunderts verwurzelt war. So gleicht die erste Einspielung des neuen Bonner GMD mit dem Beethoven Orchester Bonn einem fragmentarischen Komponistenportrait, und steht gleichzeitig für die Repertoireerweiterung, die Stefan Blunier mit dem Bonner Klangkörper anstrebt. Ganz im Sinne eines ewigen Wandels möchte Blunier den Hörer mit auf eine Reise voller Entdeckungen und Überraschungen nehmen.“

“The first recording realized by Stefan Blunier and Beethoven Orchester Bonn is entirely dedicated to composer Arnold Schönberg. With the five orchestral pieces op. 16, Nocturne for harp, solo violin and strings, 6 Lieder op. 8 and the adaptation of Bach’s Prelude and Fugue BWV 552 Beethoven Orchester Bonn is presenting works of four important creative periods of the Austrian composer.

On this CD Schönberg’s Nocturne for harp, solo violin and strings has been recorded for the first time and in very delicate colours by Beethoven Orchester Bonn. The piece was believed to be lost for a long time and the only evidence for its existence was a small newspaper article dating from the year 1896. Stefan Blunier is now presenting this treasure together with Liviu Casleanu (violin) and Johanna Reithmayer (harp).

While the Nocturne clearly reveals the harmonics of the late romantic period, the 6 Lieder op. 8 take the audience to a transition period which the composer himself later considered a state of uncertainty. The young soprano Manuela Uhl - since recently member of Deutsche Oper Berlin and described as “true vocal miracle” by Berliner Morgenpost – is interpreting these strong works with intense vocal power. The 5 orchestral pieces op. 16 are a document of Schönberg’s arrival at atonality. Completed in 1909, Arnold Schönberg had invented a completely new tone language in his works, effecting both form and content of his music. Schönberg himself described an “incessant change of colours, rhythms and atmospheres”.

Musical adaptations were a very intimate part of Arnold Schönberg’s genesis, thus his adaptation of Prelude and Fugue BWV 552 shows how deeply he was rooted in the sound tradition of the 19^th century. Hence, the first recording of Bonn’s GMD and Beethoven Orchester Bonn offers a fragmentary portrait of a composer and at the same time stands for the repertory extension of Bonn’s orchestra which Stefan Blunier is striving for. In the best sense of persistent change Stefan Blunier intends to take the audience on a journey full of discoveries and surprises.”

Klassik heute.de (SACD MD+G 937 1584-6 VÖ November 2009)

Hier reinhören/ Samples here! 

Beethoven Orchester spielt Schönberg

„…Vor allem die sechs Lieder op. 8, hier von einer phänomenalen, hoch dramatischen Manuela Uhl zum Besten gegeben, sind bei aller satztechnischer Subtilität von einer schwülstigen Schwüle, die heute genauso nach Plüsch und schweren Parfüms riecht wie die harmonischen Üppigkeiten der spätromantischen Operntitanen. […]

Das Beethoven Orchester Bonn kann in diesen komplexen Partituren seine hervorragenden Fähigkeiten und seine Ernsthaftigkeit im Umgang mit der klassischen Moderne unter Beweis stellen. Es zollt damit auch dem eigenen Erbe Respekt, standen doch im Laufe des 20. Jahrhunderts Klangkünstler wie Richard Strauss, Max Reger, Sergiu Celibidache und Günter Wand an seinem Pult. Blunier bewegt sich da als neuer Generalmusikdirektor durchaus auf Augenhöhe. …“

“… Particularly the six Lieder op. 8 - sung by a phenomenal, highly dramatic Manuela Uhl - with all their subtlety in movement technique, are made of a florid sultriness which even today has the scent of plush and heavy perfume ressembling the harmonic luxuriance of the operatic titans of the late romantic period. […] Beethoven Orchester Bonn achieve to prove their excellent abilities as well as their seriousness about classical modern age through this complex score. At the same time they show respect for their own heritage, having emerged throughout the 20^th century alongside masters of sound such as Richards Strauss, Max Reger, Sergiu Celibidache and Günter Wand. Blunier as new GMD is definitely on a par with them. …”

Codex flores, wb, 22.12.2009

codexflores.ch/rezensionen_ind2.php

ARNOLD SCHOENBERG:

5 Orchesterstucke Op. 16; 6 lieder Op. 8;  Notturno (1896)/ J. S. BACH (arr. by Arnold Schoenberg 1929) Prelude and Fugue BWV 552 -  Manuela Uhl, soprano/ Beethoven Orchester Bonn/ Stefan Blunier - MD&G multichannel SACD (2+2+2) 937 1584-6, 63:54 [Distr. by Koch] ****:           

"Througout the history of Western music rare individuals have come along who have been transformative. Beethoven’s music exceeded the boundaries of the 18th - 19th centuries. Arnold Schoenberg arguably was the twentieth century’s Beethoven, breaking the form of German romantic expressionism while creating the music of the future.

If you question the premise, this disc should change your mind. The selections included span the styles of the very late nineteenth/early twentieth century. Schoenberg’s recently published Notturno for Harp, Solo Violin and Strings is a lovely, gossamer, three minute piece, which could have been composed by Debussy. The 6 Lieder Op. 8are very much Richard Strauss in their opulence of vocal and orchestral composition despite their “hovering tonality”. The 5 Orchesterstucke Op. 16 are groundbreaking. In 1909, Schoenberg expanded his tonal language as well as sound and mood. . As he described in a letter asking Richard Strauss to perform the work: “I have colossal expectations of them, especially as regards sound and mood. But they are absolutely not symphonic - the direct opposite in fact: no architecture, no structure. Just an uninterrupted alternation of colors, rhythms, moods.” Op. 16 foreshadows Schoenberg’s coming masterpieces.

In 1929 Schoenberg completed his orchestral transcription of the Bach organ Prelude and Fugue in E flat “St. Anne”. It is for “grosser orchester gesetz”; as if the constraints of the organ limited Bach’s music. Schoenberg’s orchestration makes full use of brass choir, piercing woodwinds, athletic string playing and crystalline percussion timbres employing tympani, triangle and glockenspiel. The results are Bach-Schoenberg. This is dramatic music, Bach with adrenaline.

As an historical reference, there is a Vanguard Stereolab recording VSD-2120 (c.1965) of J.S. Bach Orchestral Transcriptions by Schoenberg, Stravinsky and Webern. It is performed by the Utah Symphony Orchestra led by one of my 20th century conducting heroes, Maurice Abravanel. The “St. Anne” prelude and Fugue is contained and is played with great drama and precision. It is more vivid than the Blunier recording but no less successful. The other Schoenberg, Stravinsky and Webern transcriptions are masterfully done.

The Beethoven Orchester Bonn under Music Director, Stefan Blunier is very fine and obviously deeply committed to this music. Well-balanced instrumental groups, great clarity in the most densely orchestrated  sections,  characterize these performances. Always structural clarity is emphasized. The music breathes. The soloist - Manuela Uhl in the 6 Lieder Op. 8 - is dazzling. Ravishing sound and vocal technique allow her to become at one with the orchestral canvas. No mean achievement!

Dabringhaus and Grimm’s SACD multichannel recording is lifelike, evoking hall ambience, instrumental placement and dimensionality without stridor. This disc, an affirmation of Schoenberg’s position in the 20th century, chronicles the emergence of  a  musical giant.  Highly recommended."                                                                    

Ronald Legum, audiophile audition, 17.02.2010

http://www.audaud.com/article.php?ArticleID=7007

 

Stefan Blunier: Schönberg rooted in Romanticism

"While Arnold Schönberg's position as one of the most controversial and influential composers of the 20th century is hardly contested any more - not even by those who despise, loathe or outright hate his music - Stefan Blunier's assertion that his work hasn't exactly entered the general public's awareness is something of an understatement: Ask any bloke at a party what he thinks of "Moses und Aron" or one of the girls about the "inherent humanity of dodecaphony" and chances are that you will not be making a lot of new friends that night. Which is understandable, in a way, because a lot of Schönberg's music was indeed not intended to please and still today sounds as alien and, at least to the untrained ear, inaccessible as it did when it was first published and performed. As Blunier now points out on his first CD with the Beethoven Orchester Bonn, it is however also a somewhat undeserved reaction. After all, it wasn't just Schönberg's early pieces which revealed a deep admiration for the tonal language and timbral qualities of Romanticism. Over the course of his formative years, the Austrian composer would instead walk a continuum from one end of the musical spectrum into a terra incognita whose dimensions and potentials even he could only guess at. And although a sensation of profound loneliness permeates some of his mature scores, it deserves to be mentioned that he did not shy away from dabbling his feet in the supposedly shallow waters of entertainment as well from time to time. That particular aspect may be missing from Blunier's recording, but this only goes to reinforce the original intention of the album: To portray an artist in constant progress, whose "break with music" came less unexpected than some may want to make you believe.

Why did you decide to record Schönberg for your debut album with the Beethoven Orchester Bonn?

On the one hand, simply because he is one of my favourite composers. On the other, because he is definitely under-rated in Germany: Even though Schönberg still hasn't entered the wider public awareness, he remains one of the key composers of the 20th century to me. I was trying to avoid arbitrariness and to raise the bar by including material that was either inconvenient or would raise a few eyebrows. Thanks to the inclusion of the „Notturno“ and the six Lieder, there are two works on the album which are hard to come by. Even the five orchestral pieces op. 16 are anything but well-known. So the CD in a way includes a blend between kitschy, expressive and romantic material as well as an adaptation - and each of them is marked to a different compositional approach.

The  press release calls the album a „fragmentary portrait“. Which character traits of the composer are coming to the fore here?

Foremost, his incredible craftsmanship shines through. This mattered to me, because there seems to be the prejudice that contemporary composers are oblivious to this aspect of their trade, just like contemporary painters are regularly suspected of not being able to draw realistically. In this particular case, however, the exact opposite is true. Which means that the atonal element in Schönberg's music is not a cover-up-operation but rather a gradual development rooted in the period of romanticism. The Orchestral Pieces op. 16, for example, are caught in the middle between these poles. They're not yet dodecaphonic, but they're no longer romantic either. The only thing that's missing from the four different angles we're approaching his music from is the element of entertainment. Schönberg, after all, wrote quite a bit of music for revues and other entertainment-formats. But there was no space for that on the CD, and neither was there for a pure piece of 12-tone-music. So the album is firmly characterised by Schönberg's transformation as a composer.

Thanks to the „Notturno“, the album also includes a world premiere recording ...

Strictly speaking, we're not talking about a sensational discovery here. I keep in touch with what publishing houses are announcing and make the occasional order. I also listen to a lot of CDs and order scores. Afterwards, I will carefully file this material away and return to my lists from time to time. A lot of preparatory work goes into this, but that doesn't mean that it's necessarily an archaeological process. In contrast to other conductors, I am simply looking for new ways. So there's no big mystery to how this premiere recording of a Schönberg composition came about.

Does the „Notturno“ have a deeper meaning to you?

I find it to be a particularly beautiful piece of music. This little gem slightly reminds me of the quiet string-passage in „Zarathustra“, which was remarkably also written in As-Major.

Are there, to you, any immediate connections between the „Notturno“ and the other pieces included on the CD?

Again and again, people are using the term of acoustic colours when it comes to Schönberg. How to make them visible, though? I don't think one should. Rather, you have to celebrate these colours, to taste and suggest them rather than spelling things out in full. There's hardly another music which is as extreme to the point of being manic and exalted as this. Performing these colours requires a sense of courage to bring out the ugly, which a lot of musicians lack. 

Schönberg's scores are so utterly complex that you need to force yourself not to loose track. The challenge is to get things just the way he wanted them. There's a wealth of information in his scores, which can seem like an overload. You have to channel his intentions, which is usually an intellectual achievement than a musical one.

The booklet moots various ideas about why Schönberg realised the Bach-transcriptions. What's your own point of view on the subject?

The Bach-edits are part of a tradition. Schönberg's pupils arranged several works, including reductions, and performed them at private concerts. I suppose it was part of his classes, because these reductions require a precise analysis of the original work and only through a controlled sceletisation can an adequate sound-ideal be transported. Schönberg actually re-arranged some of his own works himself, mostly in phases when he suffered from a writer's block.

You seem to be working towards an extension of your repertoire with the Beethoven Orchestra ...

Indeed I am, because there are still undiscovered treasures to be dug up. On the 29th of January, I conducted Franz Schmidt's fourth symphony for the first time in Bonn and the event also marked the beginning of a new series of CDs, which will be recorded live during select gigs over the upcoming season with the Beethoven Orchester Bonn and subsequently be published by MDG."

Tobias Fischer, tokafi.com, 24.3.2010

 

Arnold Schoenberg - Oeuvres pour Orchestre. Lieder

« Les écrits de Schoenberg laissent entendre nettement que la rupture de la barrière tonale fut entreprise non pas tant dans l’euphorie de la découverte que dans le regret de l’abandon de notions dépassées», nous dit Paul Griffiths dans Brève histoire de la musique moderne (Fayard), ajoutant que «Schoenberg n’était pas un expérimentateur d’avant-garde. Il voyait son incursion dans l’atonalité comme la conséquence inévitable de ce qui s’était déjà passé et il se sentait obligé d’aller de l’avant, fût-ce contre sa volonté consciente».

Le présent enregistrement nous donne à entendre les cinq pièces pour orchestre Op.16, six lieder Op.8, Notturno pour harpe, violon et orchestre à cordes datant de 1896 ainsi que le Prélude et Fugue BWV 552 de Jean-Sébastien Bach dans l’arrangement pour grand orchestre que Schoenberg fit en 1929.

Saluons la prestation exemplaire du Beethoven Orchester Bonn que dirige Stefan Blunier et bien évidemment la voix chaleureuse de la soprano Manuela Uhl. Un SACD de grande tenue dans une prise de son d’une belle présence. »

Jean-Jacques Millo, parutions.com, 06.04.2010