# Schonberg ''Le pierrot lunaire'' hard to get into but so enjoyable once understand!



## deprofundis (Apr 25, 2014)

I confessed & admited, at first i did not like Lee pierrot Lunaire opus.27, now it's one of my favorite schonberg works, this is quantum physic, a hard to swallow mix of conceptual theatrical dark jazz operatic symbiosis.Now im thinking of buying an Lp of 1951 conducted by Arnold Schonberg, i wont an old 50'' Lp thee first one made but i guess i will have to wait up since cash dosen flows these days, austherity strike hard.

It 's as is charm, it's not just a novelty it's brilliant, but in order to to appreciated mister Schonberg ,state of the art Fameous Pierrot, one most listen to a lot of vocal music, perhaps something like Bluebeard castle of bartok's fame i.e and some jazz.

The Pierrot Lunaire opus.27 is as we saysin french glauque= sinister but tainted whit humor.My only problem was finding the right version of this i first purchased like 10 years ago or so, not understanding the irronic Giraud Poem inside , but i keep on listening and it grew on me, i dont know if listening to Liber 5-6 of gesualdo help me get into this and my new passion for excentric & ecclectic atonal experimental jazz (cecil taylor per se).Than i finally get it, but i was ain't able to get into musique d'abord version of this brilliant work..see there something wrong whit the soprano voice , it's not as fluid as naxos, but i thought im in an LP phasis i needed The Pierrot Lunairee conducted by Schonberg himself, in order for this work to be enjoyable the soprano voice most be fluid, not force into exageration, i wonder who has this in vynil the 1951 vynil that look awesome for now it's too expensive for my wallet , i spend more than i own this is bad(obsolete detail)..This must be magical on heck of a vynil.

What do i like about the pierrot lunaire opus.27, it's kinda Loungy dark humoristic expressionism, like i said this work is very complex and dosen't tolerated faultering, if the soprano is not the right voice pitch it could be irritant and annoying.

Fews people in this world really like Schonberg's Pierrot, some pretend they find it amazing just because it's avant-garde but purchase it, show of to there friend on Talk classiical but they dont listen to it or understand, this work ecclectic fusion of jazz and opera.

So im asking you guys ,what is the best rendition of le pierrot lunaire opus.27 in vynil what about Schonberg own led masterpiece 1951, Schoenberg music demanded concentration and a calm state of mind , i dont know this is how i see it , in order to get into the music itself, this is not as easy to get into as his Chamber music 1-2 or verklatre natch(transfigurated night) , but once you get it , it's fantastic!!!rich, colorful darn awesome.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

deprofundis said:


> So im asking you guys ,what is the best rendition of le pierrot lunaire opus.27 in vynil what about Schonberg own led masterpiece 1951, Schoenberg music demanded concentration and a calm state of mind , i dont know this is how i see it , in order to get into the music itself, this is not as easy to get into as his Chamber music 1-2 or verklatre natch(transfigurated night) , but once you get it , it's fantastic!!!rich, colorful darn awesome.


Have a listen to the one with Ethel Semser, Leibowitz directing, in general I've found that the early recordings of Schoenberg are very rewarding -- here, the piano music and the trio. You can hear this one through Bibiotheque Nationale de France.

I don't know if Schoenberg himself was involved in this performance Where is his "own led performance?" I haven't heard it.

I'm sure there are many fine recordings, it's a popular piece of music. I think you're grossly exaggerating its difficulty!


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## Guest (Jan 17, 2019)

Was about to mention the old Boulez version from Le Domaine Musical. His other recordings are fine as well. I haven't fully explored different recordings of this piece, but it would be very interesting to compare different singers for this song cycle.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

shirime said:


> Was about to mention the old Boulez version from Le Domaine Musical. His other recordings are fine as well. I haven't fully explored different recordings of this piece, but it would be very interesting to compare different singers for this song cycle.


Yes I was about to mention it in fact, he has good singers there and gets good things from them, like in the early recording of the Webern cantatas.

I've only heard this music once in concert, with Uchida, it was a really enjoyable evening. I don't know if she recorded it.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

I'm one of those people who thinks this is an interesting piece, though weird. Here's an interesting and equally weird video interpretation.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

And here is Schoenberg's own recording of it for download

https://archive.org/details/SCHONBERGPierrotLunaire-NEWTRANSFER


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

I was baffled the first time I heard Pierrot, but I think I lacked the text. Many years later I learnt to appreciate it, this time following along with the text. I acquired the recording with Christine Schafer and the icing on the cake was a live performance incorporating lighting and dancing.

The subject matter is totally out there with some really heavy **** happening. The song everyone mentions is where Pierrot scoops out the brain of someone's skull a la Hannibal Lecter and makes it into a pipe for smoking tobacco. There are others equally psychopathic, I find the song where giant moths cover the sky totally chilling. There also a bit of tenderness where Pierrot is homesick.

I played this to a friend of mine some years ago and his reaction was that the singer is like a femme fatale. The type you wouldn't like to meet in a dark alley. He mentioned that if she had a razor, a certain part of a man's anatomy might be in danger! It's an apt initial reaction and anything less would mean that Schoenberg had failed in conveying the horror of Giraud's visions.

I haven't heard Schoenberg's recording but I started with the one by Jane Manning. Hers was on the abrasive side. Every recording will be different, depending on how the singer handles the speech-song element.

One of the most memorable parts of Darius Milhaud's autobiography relates his experiences with conducting this piece. It was a huge challenge requiring 25 rehearsals, but he said it was worth it. Milhaud was invited to Schoenberg's home, and he also mentions his recording:

_I was exasperated by the recitative running over the whole range of the vocal register with the most unexpected leaps and intervals. After conducting it in London, therefore, I decided that this would be the last time. Yet the other day I listened with genuine pleasure to the recording made by Schoenberg himself and I find that, in spite of the years that have come between, this music has kept an authentic freshness._

I think that if a musical mind like Milhaud struggled with this music, its fine for the ordinary listener to do the same. Schoenberg and Milhaud discussed their differing opinions on it too, and on a forum like this we can too. The worst thing is for a forum to become an echo chamber.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

One recording I don't like is Boulez with Yvonne Minton. He has a smoking lineup - Lynn Harrell on cello, Pinchas Zukerman on violin, Barenboim on piano - but the vocalist just sings the notes; there's no sprechstimme. But I guess on the bright side, it does take the wierdness out, if you're looking for non-weirdness.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Manxfeeder said:


> One recording I don't like is Boulez with Yvonne Minton. He has a smoking lineup - Lynn Harrell on cello, Pinchas Zukerman on violin, Barenboim on piano - but the vocalist just sings the notes; there's no sprechstimme. But I guess on the bright side, it does take the wierdness out, if you're looking for non-weirdness.


That's the CD I have. I don't really know much about the piece, and I don't have other versions. But the Boulez is a great sounding recording.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Schoenberg's recording is in fact here, I had it all the time but I never knew who was conducting, it's much better on CD I'd say than on that transfer and this is a good thing to have _if _you can tolerate a historic recording and the sort of fast and furious performance of the trio that the early Julliard's come up with. It's still buyable from Arkivmusik









We're in a similar position to Bartok's two piano sonata unfortunately, where a really special recording has historical sound, but is totally listenable (more so than the Bartok probably) and has the interest of composer involvement.

This type of music seems to have worn quite well in fact, that's what I felt listening to it today. Same for Elektra, which seems similar, or that's my superficial impression and memory -- it's about 10 years since I last saw Elektra. They both seem quite strikingly fresh to me, I'm not sure that make sense!


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Manxfeeder said:


> One recording I don't like is Boulez with Yvonne Minton. He has a smoking lineup - Lynn Harrell on cello, Pinchas Zukerman on violin, Barenboim on piano - but the vocalist just sings the notes; there's no sprechstimme. But I guess on the bright side, it does take the wierdness out, if you're looking for non-weirdness.


There is a Boulez one which I like rather more than the rest, though this may just be a personal response to the singer as always, it's with Maria Bergmann


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

Some works I find hard to get into, but there is something that draws me back to them and often times I will come back to them and discover I like them a lot. Other works I find hard to get into yet have no desire to ever get into them, _Pierrot Lunaire_ falls into the latter category for me.


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