Onyx Classics proudly presents a new release marking the 150th anniversary of Arnold Schoenberg’s birth. For this tremendous milestone, soprano Claire Booth joins with Ensemble 360 to provide a unique programme which delves into Pierrot, a fictional character often associated with human vice, with an air of insouciance and innocence. Featured are works inspired by this devious and cunning character: Schumann’s Carnival (1835), Schoenberg’s 12-song cycle Pierrot Lunaire and Thea Musgrave’s Pierrot. Rounding out the programme are works by Amy Beach, Korngold, Debussy among others.

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Schumann: Carnaval, op.9: 2. Pierrot
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Marx: Pierrot Dandy
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Poldowski: Columbine
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Musgrave: Pierrot: 1. Pierrot. Andante espressivo
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Musgrave: Pierrot: 2. Columbine. Con frivolezza
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Musgrave: Pierrot: 3. Pierrot’s Serenade. Spettrale
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Musgrave: Pierrot: 4. Harlequin. Con energia
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Musgrave: Pierrot: 5. Harlequin attacks Pierrot. Furioso
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Musgrave: Pierrot: 6. Columbine rejects Pierrot. Molto meno mosso
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Musgrave: Pierrot: 7. Harlequin’s Serenade. Sensuale
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Musgrave: Pierrot: 8. Pierrot. Andante espressivo
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Debussy: Pierrot, L30
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Beach: Les Rêves de Colombine, op.65: 3. Valse amoureuse
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Kowalski: 12 Gedichte aus ‘Pierrot lunaire’, op.4: 4. Nordpolfahrt
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Korngold: Die Tote Stadt, op.12: Tanzlied des Pierrot (Act II) (arr. for cello & piano)
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Schoenberg: Pierrot lunaire, op.21: Teil 1: 1. Mondestrunken
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Schoenberg: Pierrot lunaire, op.21: Teil 1: 2. Colombine
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Schoenberg: Pierrot lunaire, op.21: Teil 1: 3. Der Dandy
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Schoenberg: Pierrot lunaire, op.21: Teil 1: 4. Eine blasse Wäscherin
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Schoenberg: Pierrot lunaire, op.21: Teil 1: 5. Valse de Chopin
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Schoenberg: Pierrot lunaire, op.21: Teil 1: 6. Madonna
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Schoenberg: Pierrot lunaire, op.21: Teil 1: 7. Der kranke Mond
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Schoenberg: Pierrot lunaire, op.21: Teil 2: 8. Die Nacht
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Schoenberg: Pierrot lunaire, op.21: Teil 2: 9. Gebet an Pierrot
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Schoenberg: Pierrot lunaire, op.21: Teil 2: 10. Raub
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Schoenberg: Pierrot lunaire, op.21: Teil 2: 11. Rote Messe
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Schoenberg: Pierrot lunaire, op.21: Teil 2: 12. Galgenlied
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Schoenberg: Pierrot lunaire, op.21: Teil 2: 13. Enthauptung
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Schoenberg: Pierrot lunaire, op.21: Teil 2: 14. Die Kreuze
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Schoenberg: Pierrot lunaire, op.21: Teil 2: 15. Heimweh
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Schoenberg: Pierrot lunaire, op.21: Teil 2: 16. Gemeinheit
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Schoenberg: Pierrot lunaire, op.21: Teil 2: 17. Parodie
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Schoenberg: Pierrot lunaire, op.21: Teil 2: 18. Der Mondfleck
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Schoenberg: Pierrot lunaire, op.21: Teil 2: 19. Serenade
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Schoenberg: Pierrot lunaire, op.21: Teil 2: 20. Heimfahrt
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Schoenberg: Pierrot lunaire, op.21: Teil 2: 21. O alter Duft

Europadisc Review

Of all the expressions of the societal and artistic angst felt at the turn of the 20th century, the figure of Pierrot remains one of the most potent and fascinating. The sad, moonstruck, white-face clown of the Italian commedia dell’arte has been a reference point for artists as far back as the 18th-century Watteau, and even figures in Telemann’s commedia-themed Ouverture burlesque in B flat, TWV 55:B8. As the 20th century approached, Pierrot – with or without the object of his frustrated affections, Columbine – was a something of a touchstone for Aubrey Beardsley, and the decadent fashions of the new century saw an enthusiastic uptake of the mysterious, androgynous figure at high society parties, as well as featuring in the early modernist paintings of Pablo Picasso. In the world of film, the Pierrot mask has most famously featured in Marcel Carné’s 1945 masterpiece Les Enfants du Paradis, and 20 years later in Jean-Luc Godard’s French New Wave Pierrot le Fou.

Arnold Schoenberg’s 1912 atonal masterpiece for singer and small ensemble, Pierrot lunaire, op.12, setting 21 of Albert Giraud’s 1884 symbolist Pierrot poems in Otto Erich Hartleben’s German translations, is by some distance the melancholy clown’s most celebrated musical iteration. It captures not just the character’s obsessive inwardness, but also his slippery nature, sometimes sensual, at others dangerously unhinged, murderous and suicidal. Recordings were rare until the 1970s, but have since become plentiful, usually coupled with other works by Schoenberg or fellow members of the Second Viennese School. A new recording on the Onyx label, by soprano Claire Booth and five members of the Ensemble 360, takes a different approach, coupling the cycle with other Pierrot-themed works largely from the early 20th century, and thus providing it with an intriguing context.

The album, entitled ‘Pierrot Portraits’, kicks off with an outlier, the ‘Pierrot’ movement from Robert Schumann’s Carnaval of 1835. Schumann was surely the most visionary of the 19th century’s composers for piano, and his succinct portrait is here taken by Tim Horton at a deliberate pace, emphasising the sinister undertow to this brooding miniature, presenting the listener with a succinct foretaste of the emotional depths to come. Composed just over 50 years later, Debussy’s early song Pierrot (unpublished until after his death) makes witty use of the popular folksong ‘Au clair de la lune’ in its setting of a poem by Théodore de Banville, gently highlighting the character’s lunar obsession.

Other pieces show a wide range of responses to the enigmatic title figure. Amy Beach’s ‘Valse amoureuse’ from her 1907 piano suite, Les Rêves de Colombine has an easy charm and innocence that harks back to the age of Watteau, but Poldowski’s 1913 song Colombine has more bite and energy, with Booth's incisive, well-focused tone emphasising Columbine’s coquettish, tricksy nature. Joseph Marx’s 1910 setting of Pierrot Dandy has a very different feel from the equivalent movement in Schoenberg’s cycle, the mood palpably turn-of-the-century in its rich harmonies, but with its feet firmly planted in the world of late Romanticism. Max Kowalski’s ‘Nordpolfahrt’ from his 1913 12 Poems from ‘Pierrot lunaire’ sets one of the Giraud/Hartleben texts not used by Schoenberg. Although resolutely tonal, it has – thanks in part to Booth's vivid projection of the text – a whiff of the cabaret about it, while the insistent tread of the piano accompaniment suggests Pierrot’s ice-clogged feet as he journeys to the North Pole.

Apart from the Schoenberg, the most substantial work here is Thea Musgrave’s Pierrot (1985) for violin, clarinet and piano, played by Benjamin Nabarro, Robert Plane and Tim Horton. The instruments represent, respectively, Pierrot, Columbine and Pierrot’s rival Harlequin, and the suite’s eight movements trace Pierrot’s amorous infatuation, his struggle with Harlequin, rejection by Columbine, and brooding loneliness. Although firmly tonal, Musgrave’s score has plenty of post-modernist edginess and wit, and the instrumental writing plays with a wide range of sonorities, Columbine’s clarinet being particularly beguiling. The instruments move from background to foreground as the unspoken narrative moves along. Another purely instrumental piece is Pierrot’s Dance-Song from Korngold’s 1920 opera Die tote Stadt, in its transcription for cello (Gemma Rosefield) and piano. This rapt piece of post-Wagnerian late Romanticism receives performance that is both heartfelt and marvellously contained, and placing it immediately before the Schoenberg serves to heighten still further the latter’s radicalism, as well as illustrating the sheer variety of responses to the Pierrot phenomenon.

Pierrot lunaire itself is the final work on the disc (no other work could realistically have followed it), and it receives a particularly vibrant performance, with Booth’s crystal-clear voice an ideal vehicle for communicating the text, and a good command of the Sprechstimme (no more than half-sung) delivery of the vocal lines. She is well balanced against the ensemble, with flautist Juliette Bausor joining the aforementioned players. Performing without the conductor that features on most other recordings, Booth and her colleagues nevertheless manage to present a reading that is brimmingly characterful in its observance of Schoenberg’s kaleidoscopic markings, faithful to the spirit of the texts and the traditions that lie behind them, and thoughtful in their presentation of the central figure’s complex, multifaceted character. As with all the pieces here, the performance benefits from a finely detailed recording from Champs Hill, Pulborough, overseen by Raphaël Mouterde, and Booth’s own intelligently written liner notes are an added bonus. Full texts and translations are provided. In Schoenberg’s anniversary year, this is a welcome and distinctive addition to the Pierrot discography.

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Condition	Description
New	Brand new item, only ever sourced from the official UK distributor. Usually seal-wrapped, although a minority of labels do not use seal-wrap.
Used - Mint	Used item in excellent condition. Not usually seal-wrapped.
Used - Good	Used item with some minor signs of wear and tear. Never seal-wrapped.
Used - Acceptable	Used item with obvious scuffs or cosmetic damage to the case or booklet. Never seal-wrapped.

Condition	Description
New	Brand new item, only ever sourced from the official UK distributor. Usually seal-wrapped, although a minority of labels do not use seal-wrap.
Used - Mint	Used item in excellent condition. Not usually seal-wrapped.
Used - Good	Used item with some minor signs of wear and tear. Never seal-wrapped.
Used - Acceptable	Used item with obvious scuffs or cosmetic damage to the case or booklet. Never seal-wrapped.

Pierrot Portraits

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Europadisc Review

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£12.83

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