SCHOENBERG

Gurre-lieder

Burkhard Fritz, Emily Magee, Anna Larsson, Markus Marquardt, Wolfgang Ablinger-sperrhacke, Sunnyi Melles; Chorus of the Dutch National Opera/ Thomas Feller; Kammerchor des Chorforum Essen/alexander Eberle; Netherlands Philhamonic Orchestra/ Marc Abrecht; dir. Pierre Audi (Amsterdam, 2014)

Opus Arte OA1227 D 130 mins

Given its Wagnerian antecedents, it seems surprising that Schoenberg’s early, hyper-romantic song-cyclecum-oratorio-cum-music-drama Gurre-lieder had apparently never been staged before this spectacular Dutch National Opera production. Presumably the vast orchestra required precluded all but the largest theatres, while the work’s leisurely, un-operatic pacing presents a real challenge to the inventiveness of any stage director.

This, Pierre Audi partly attempts to meet by having such characters as Klaus the Fool, and the Speaker, who feature rather late in the score, wandering about the stage from the start. But he cannot avoid an excess of Lear-like staggering and tearing off of garments for his long suffering protagonist King Waldemar. Some