Editorial Reviews

Someday soon, recordings of the two-act version of Berg's "Lulu" will be historical curiosities. After all, now there is an authentic three-act version of the opera with the melodies, harmonies, rhythms, and most of the orchestration in Berg's hand. But there was a time when all there was of "Lulu" was a two-act torso and that was all anybody thought there was until Berg's wife finally released act three from rigor mortis. But when this recording was made back in 1968, there were only two acts of "Lulu," and two acts of "Lulu" are what is on this marvelously produced recording on Andante. Conductor Karl Böhm was best known for his Mozart and Strauss operas, but he was also a dab hand at Berg's operas and his Deutsche Grammophon recordings of those works are canonical interpretations. Böhm's live Vienna State Opera production of "Lulu" is more dramatic, more exciting, and a whole lot hotter than his studio recording and the playing of the Vienna Philharmonic is virtuosic and expressive. But it is the incendiary singing of Anja Silja in the title role that transforms an exciting performance into an extraordinary performance by inhabiting the role and thereby inciting the cast and inflaming the audience. The other principals are superb, especially Martha Mödl as the decadent Countess Geschwitz and Hans Hotter as the degraded Schigolch, but it is Silja's transcendentally debauched "Lulu" who rules this cast of degenerates. As historical curiosities go, this one is overwhelmingly compelling. Andante's remastered sound is right there in the chair next to you. James Leonard, All Music Guide

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