Schoenberg: Die Glückliche Hand; Variations for Orchestra; Verklärte Nacht

This is one of the best discs in this series. The expressionist drama Die Gluckliche Hand is one of Schoenberg's most experimental works, and though the Freudian expressionism is dated, the music is surprisingly enjoyable. The opening minutes create one of Schoenberg's most evocative atmospheres, a musical jungle, with soft drums beating eerily, a forest of instrumental melodies, and voices chanting. Siegmund Nimsgern is a solid bass. Pierre Boulez has remarked that the Variations for Orchestra is essentially a didactic exercise in serial variations, but the work still has much to offer, the abstract musical material is developed in every conceivable expressive way. Finally, the orchestral arrangement of Transfigured Night--a Straussian tone poem in black and white--is given an unexpectedly emotional reading by Boulez at the helm of the New York Philharmonic. --Joshua Cody