Musical Extremities Works by Schoenberg and Portera - heard by GERALD FENECH 'Performances are satisfyingly macabre in Schoenberg's work, while Portera's piece is given a well-rounded and detailed interpretation.'

Considered the father of twelve-note music, Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) remains one of the most enigmatic figures of twentieth century music, as are most of his compositions. Premiered on 16 October 1921, Pierrot Lunaire is, together with Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, one of the musical landmarks of the first half of the last century, but for most listeners, it remains hard to fathom, and performances are not that frequent, even in this day and age, when musical extremities are practically the order of the day. The work is a cycle of twenty-one poems from fifty of the same name by the Belgian poet Albert Giraud. Published in 1882 and freely translated into German by Otto Erich Hartleben, these pieces have very little to do with the previous tradition of the German Lied, although some features are retained...

ARNOLD SCHOENBERG

FLORENCE

ITALY