Alban Berg - Lulu (Boulez, Paris Opera)

In composing Lulu, Alban Berg made a fascinating attempt to reconcile chaos and order under one operatic roof, setting a harrowing tale of moral anarchy to a 12-tone score that is rigorously organized down to the smallest staging detail. On one level Lulu is a “number opera" consisting of a sequence of arias, ensembles, cavatinas, ballades and other forms traditionally associated with vocal music (all of which are clearly identified by Berg in the score). At the same time, each of the three acts has within it a single large-scale form, the different sections of which are scattered throughout the act, which mirrors the main dramatic development. Act I, for example, is dominated by a sonata form, associated with Dr Schön’s attempts to break free of Lulu, the exposition and the first reprise of which appear when Schön and Lulu argue in scene 2 while the development and recapitulation appear when the argument continues in scene 3. In Act II the largescale form is a rondo (continually interrupted in scene 1 but heard in its entirety as a continuous piece in scene 2 associated with Alwa’s declarations of love for Lulu, while in Act III a set of variations, based on a cabaritoneet song by Wedekind himself, charts Lulu’s descent into prostitution.

Alban Berg (1885 - 1935)
Lulu
(Gesamtaufnahme mit vollendetem 3. Akt · Complete opera in 3 acts Intégrale avec 3 me acte achevé Integrale con l'intero atto III)

Teresa Stratas (soprano/ Lulu)
Franz Mazura (baritone/ Dr Schön/ Jack)
Yvonne Minton (mezzo soprano/ Countess Geschwitz)
Kenneth Riegel (tenor/ Alwa)
Gerd Nienstedt (bass/ An Animal-tamer/ Rodrigo)
Toni Blankenheim (baritone/ Schigolch/ Professor of Medicine / The Police Officer)
Robert Tear (tenor/ The Painter/ A Negro)
Helmut Pampuch (tenor/ The Prince/ The Manservant / The Marquis)
Jules Bastin (bass/ The Theatre Manager/ The Banker)
Ursula Boese (mezzo soprano/ Her Mother)
Claude Meloni (baritone/ A Journalist); Pierre-Yves Le Maigat (bass/ A Manservant)
Hanna Schwarz (mezzo soprano/ A Dresser in the theatre, High School Boy / A Groom)
Jane Manning (soprano/ A fifteen-year-old girl)
Anna Ringart (mezzo soprano/ A Lady Artist)

Orchestre de l'Opéra de Paris
Pierre Boulez

Released March 2000

Deutsche Grammophon 463 6172
3 Compact Discs