Title: Schoenberg: Moses und Aron Artist: Georg Solti Release Date: 2007 Label: Decca Duration: 96:22 Album Type(s): composition (work) description, lyrics/libretto, Plot synopsis/story UPC: 028947586784 Genre: Opera Total Copies: 0 Members Wishing: 0 Number of Discs/SwapaCD Credits: 2

1. Moses und Aron, biblical drama in 3 acts (unfinished)
   - Act 1. Scene 1. Einziger, ewiger, allgegenwärtiger
2. Moses und Aron, biblical drama in 3 acts (unfinished)
   - Act 1. Scene 2. Du Sohn meines Vaters
3. Moses und Aron, biblical drama in 3 acts (unfinished)
   - Act 1. Scene 3. Ich hab ihn gesehn
4. Moses und Aron, biblical drama in 3 acts (unfinished)
   - Act 1. Scene 4. Bringt ihr Erhörung

1. Moses und Aron, biblical drama in 3 acts (unfinished)
   - Interlude
2. Moses und Aron, biblical drama in 3 acts (unfinished)
   - Act 2. Scene 1. Vierzig Tage!
3. Moses und Aron, biblical drama in 3 acts (unfinished)
   - Act 2. Scene 2. Wo ist Moses?
4. Moses und Aron, biblical drama in 3 acts (unfinished)
   - Act 2. Scene 3. Dieses Bild bezeugt
5. Moses und Aron, biblical drama in 3 acts (unfinished)
   - Act 2. Scene 4. Moses steigt vom Berg herab!
6. Moses und Aron, biblical drama in 3 acts (unfinished)
   - Act 2. Scene 5. Aron, was hast du getan

The performers on this recording, whom Georg Solti instructed, "Please play and sing as if you were performing Brahms!" clearly took his directions to heart. This performance is characterized by the kind of passion, and occasional frenzy, Schoenberg had in mind -- in this incarnation, the opera could never be taken as an academic exercise in serialism. A large part of the credit goes to Solti, who discovers the dramatic contours within the musical phrases and delivers a shapely and nuanced reading. The opera's punch is heightened by the composer's brilliantly colorful and evocative orchestration, which creates a drama of its own, and the Chicago Symphony plays with considerable heat without sacrificing precision. Whether or not Schoenberg's harmonic language is to a listener's personal taste, it would be hard not to get caught up in the visceral energy of the performance. The chorus is really the star of the opera, and the Chicago Symphony Chorus, directed by the legendary Margaret Hillis, sings the grueling music with the apparent ease and naturalness one would expect in a performance of a tonal piece. In the dramatically challenging role of Moses, Franz Mazura delivers the Sprechstimme lines with real authority and power. Tenor Philip Langridge's voice is not always tonally beautiful -- the upper register can sound strained -- but he sings with passion and understanding, and his Aron is a strong dramatic foil to Mazura's stern Moses. Soprano Barbara Bonney and bass Aage Haugland bring a sheen of bel canto polish to their relatively small roles. Decca's sound, in this reissue of a 1984 release, is warm and dramatically realistic. ~ Stephen Eddins, All Music Guide

Name Credits Aage Haugland Vocals Allen Forte Libretto Translation Andrew Huth Liner Note Translation Barbara Bonney Vocals Barbara Pearson Vocals Bradley Nystrom Vocals Chicago Symphony Chorus Choir, Chorus Chicago Symphony Orchestra Orchestra Cynthia Anderson Vocals Daniel Harper Vocals Decca N. Lesieur Liner Note Translation Doreen Rao Children's Choirmaster Elizabeth Bucchieri Repetiteur Elizabeth Gottlieb Vocals Franz Mazura Vocals Georg Solti Author, Conductor Gerd Uekermann Liner Note Translation Glen Ellyn Children's Chorus Children's Chorus Herbert Wittges Vocals James Lock Engineer James Mallinson Producer Jean Braham Vocals John Pellowe Engineer Karen Brunssen Vocals Karen Zajac Vocals Kurt Link Vocals Margaret Hillis Choir Master Mike Evans Photography Mira Zakai Vocals Paul Griffiths Liner Notes Paul Grizzell Vocals Philip Langridge Vocals Richard Cohn Vocals Roald Henderson Vocals Sally Schweikert Vocals Susan Shimert-Ramme Photography Thomas Dymit Vocals William Kirkwood Vocals