Alban Berg Lulu Suite

Alban Berg
Lulu Suite
Symphonische Stücke aus der Oper 'Lulu' (1934)
I. Rondo: Andante und Hymne 00:00
II. Ostinato: Allegro 14:46
III. Lied der Lulu: Comodo 18:34
IV. Variationen: Moderato 21:33
V Adagio: Sostenuto – Lento – Grave 25:00

Arleen Auger, soprano
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Simon Rattle, conductor

Painting: Arnold Gerstl, Reclining Woman and Approaching Figures, Leicester, Leicester City Arts and Museums Gallery

Alban Berg assembled his Lulu Suite for orchestra and soprano in 1934. This suite involves music from his opera Lulu, which was still incomplete when the composer died prematurely at the age of fifty in the following year. The opera's short score was already finished, and the first two acts were completely orchestrated. It was from these first two movements that the music for the concert suite was drawn. It is in five movements […] In the Lulu Suite, listeners hear music concerning a broad range of characters. The opening setting concerns Alwa, one of Lulu's many lovers. His father is Doctor Schoen, to whom the main character delivers her Lied der Lulu in Act II of the opera and in the third movement of the concert suite. In the fifth movement, the soprano also performs a brief excerpt from the role of Countess Geschwitz, another fatality to Lulu's charms. The orchestral interludes include music set in Paris and the East Side of London, where Jack the Ripper murders Lulu. The concert suite also features different musical forms, including a rondo and a set of variations. There is a lot to hear in this suite, making it something more than a contracted showcase intended to get an audience to the actual opera. It is an outstanding work in its own right. [...]
John Keillor
http://www.allmusic.com/composition/l...