Pierrot Lunaire

AMG Review of Pierrot Lunaire

Brian Whitener
All Music Guide

A decade before his first serial work, Arnold Schoenberg broke through the constraints of 19th century tonality with Pierrot Lunaire. On opening in Berlin in 1912, this monodrama based on poems by Albert Giraud was a qualified success but occasioned the vicious opposition that Schoenberg's work would become famous for. Pierrot Lunaire, comprised of three sections of seven songs each, presents the fragmented psychology of modern man through Pierrot, the lovelorn stock character of the commedia dell'arte. While Schoenberg's tonal shadings have received much attention vis-ŕ-vis comparisons with Debussy and Stravinsky, the central technical marvel of Pierrot is the use of "sprechgesang," a style of singsong declamation that originated in 19th century German opera. Sprechgesang is notoriously difficult to perform, since the technique requires a pinpoint control of tone as the speak-singer must briefly touch each note before rising or falling to the next. On this 1962 recording, the role of the sprechstimme is admirably played by Alice Howland under the direction of Herbert Zipper. With a compelling technical mastery, Howland gives a graceful yet quietly relentless interpretation of Schoenberg's lines. In particular, her rendering of the fifth song of the second cycle, Song of the Gallows, brings out both Pierrot's desperation and the seemingly hallucinatory incomprehensibility of his fate. Zipper, who attended rehearsals of the piece under Schoenberg's direction, demonstrates his grasp of the composition by skillfully handling the interplay between the soloists and orchestra. While not as well-known as the Pierre Boulez recording, this is a solid and commendable rendering.