Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Moses und Aron, biblical drama in 3 acts (unfinished): Einleitung. Sehr langsam
2. Moses und Aron, biblical drama in 3 acts (unfinished): "Einziger, exiger, allgegenwärtiger"
3. Moses und Aron, biblical drama in 3 acts (unfinished): "Du Sohn meiner Väter"
4. Moses und Aron, biblical drama in 3 acts (unfinished): "Ich hab' ihn gesehn"
5. Moses und Aron, biblical drama in 3 acts (unfinished): "Bringt ihr Erhörung"
6. Moses und Aron, biblical drama in 3 acts (unfinished): "Der Einzige, Ewige, Allmächtige"
7. Moses und Aron, biblical drama in 3 acts (unfinished): "Schließet die Augen"
8. Moses und Aron, biblical drama in 3 acts (unfinished): "Allmächtiger, meine Kraft ist zu Ende"
9. Moses und Aron, biblical drama in 3 acts (unfinished): "Ein Wunder erfült uns mit Schrecken"
10. Moses und Aron, biblical drama in 3 acts (unfinished): "Dein Stab zwingt uns"
11. Moses und Aron, biblical drama in 3 acts (unfinished): "Alles für die Freiheit"
12. Moses und Aron, biblical drama in 3 acts (unfinished): "Er hat uns auserwählt"

Disc 2:

1. Moses und Aron, biblical drama in 3 acts (unfinished): "Wo ist Moses?"
2. Moses und Aron, biblical drama in 3 acts (unfinished): "Vierzig Tage liegen wir nun schon hier!"
3. Moses und Aron, biblical drama in 3 acts (unfinished): "Wo ist Moses?"
4. Moses und Aron, biblical drama in 3 acts (unfinished): "Dieses Bild bezeugt"
5. Moses und Aron, biblical drama in 3 acts (unfinished): Tanz der Schlächter (Dance of the Butchers)
6. Moses und Aron, biblical drama in 3 acts (unfinished): O Götterbild, du strahlst"
7. Moses und Aron, biblical drama in 3 acts (unfinished): "Frei unter eigenen Herren"
8. Moses und Aron, biblical drama in 3 acts (unfinished): Orgie der Trunkenheit und des Tanzes (Orgy of drunkenness and dancing)_
9. Moses und Aron, biblical drama in 3 acts (unfinished): "Selig ist das Volk" - Orgie der Vernichtung und des Selbstmordes (Orgy of des
10. Moses und Aron, biblical drama in 3 acts (unfinished): "Du goldener Gott"
11. Moses und Aron, biblical drama in 3 acts (unfinished): Erotische Orgie (Erotic Orgy)
12. Moses und Aron, biblical drama in 3 acts (unfinished): "Moses steigt vom Berg herab"
13. Moses und Aron, biblical drama in 3 acts (unfinished): "Aron, was hast du getan?"

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #46367 in Music
• Released on: 1996-10-15
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: .43 pounds

Amazon.com essential recording
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

Customer Reviews

Enormous clarity surpasses lack of spontaneous passion
You may find problems with Boulez's conducting. His Mahler you might think impossible,two men of widely different temperments. You can claim the same for Schoenberg and you need to either place Schoenberg in this century as Boulez does or throw him back as the late Sir Georg Solti did to Brahms. Whatever the choice what remains is the pure excitement and energy of performance. Solti's reading of this work with Chicago some 12 years ago was spellbinding with Brahmsian roundness of orchestral sound and full bodied singing. Even Solti's Moses(the name escapes me) sang with a compelling sprechstimme. I'd follow him anywhere. Boulez in choosing Pittman-Jennings finds a more intellectual Moses and a formidable foe to Merritt's obnoxious Aron. You need to decide for yourself what this work means to you and where Schoenberg ultimately belongs, here or thrown backwards. Still the enormous clarity Boulez elicits from the Netherlandering forces is impressive. He gets real sharp ear-splitting sonorities.

Superb opera
This is one of the best operas written in 20th century.

And the best 12-tone work of Schoenberg (with his Variations for Orchestra)

What a performance. Pierre Boulez's this recording is better than his early Sony recording (made in 60's). This is a 4D recording, so the sound quality is excellent. This box set was won many awards: Orphee d'Or, Tokyo Best Recording of Year, Le Choc du Monde de la Musique etc.

And there are two booklets, the first includes reportage with Boulez, synopses, some photographs from live recording, and in second booklet there is a full libretto and these are in four languages.

Highly recommended.

enigmatic
Schoenberg had not completed this work,his life with the rise of racism/fascism in Europa had magnetized culture and its creation,aside from that Schoenberg was a bit ambivalent on the very concept of opera.He had a grphic imagination for the theatre,as his earlier:Survivor from Warsaw" and "Erwartung" attests, also his setting of various texts, "Hanging Gardens",but for an opera dealing with the Jewish faith had more a problematical element, the idea of not representing, the use of icons, all items opera thrives upon, imagery that "represents". The stage performances of this work have proved to be equally successful as the earlier stage productions and even a film. The alternate of Moses a sprechstimme role(half-speaking,half-singing) and Aron a singing role against the chorus is ample materials for this work. Boulez has lived with this work conducting it many times prior to this recording.And his usuall affinity for clarity is here, separating countrapuntal lines in the dense textures.The roles here are well portrayed the powerful authoritative earthy basso Moses to the more pedantic intellectual high strung tenor voice of Aron. Boulez makes this work modern as opposed to other interpretations.