Pierrot Portraits
Onyx Classics ONYX4246
Claire Booth
Ensemble 360
Arnold Schönberg Pierrot Lunaire, op. 21
Thea Musgrave I. Pierrot, from Pierrot
Thea Musgrave II. Columbine, from Pierrot
Thea Musgrave III. Pierrot’s Serenade, from Pierrot
Thea Musgrave IV. Harlequin, from Pierrot
Thea Musgrave V. Harlequin Attacks Pierrot, from Pierrot
Thea Musgrave VI. Columbine Rejects Pierrot, from Pierrot
Thea Musgrave VII. Harlequin’s Serenade, from Pierrot
Thea Musgrave VIII. Pierrot, from Pierrot
Robert Schumann Pierrot, from Carnaval op. 9
Joseph Marx Pierrot Dandy
Claude Debussy Pierrot
Amy Beach Valse Amoureuse, from Les Rêves de Columbine, op. 65
Poldowski Columbine
Max Kowalski 3. Die Estrade, from 12 Gedichte Aus Pierrot Lunaire, op. 4
Max Kowalski 6. Sonnen Ende, from 12 Gedichte Aus Pierrot Lunaire, op. 4
Max Kowalski Nordpolfahrt, from 12 Gedichte Aus Pierrot Lunaire, op. 4
Erich Wolfgang Korngold Tanzlied des Pierrot, from Die tote Stadt
Reviews:
Shortlisted for the 2024 Presto Awards.
‘Ingeniously though, for this disc, Ensemble 360 and soprano Claire Booth (something of a specialist in this type of repertoire) have marked the Austrian composer’s sesquicentennial by not placing Pierrot Lunaire in the context of Schoenberg’s oeuvre, as most often seen, but in that of other musical Pierrot inspirations. The companions chronologically range from Robert Schumann to Thea Musgrave, with each of them revealing more about the character itself, and how other composers have drawn their own unique musical colours on Pierrot’s canvas.
This is evident in the songs, which comprise half of Pierrot Lunaire’s companions. They are drawn from a contrasting suite of 19th and 20th Century styles and moods, from Joseph Marx’s playful Pierrot Dandy to Max Kowalski’s more moody ‘Nordpolfahrt’ from his Songs of Pierrot. All the songs are sung with great panache by Claire Booth, with Tim Horton showing his tremendous versatility on this disc appearing as accompanist, soloist and chamber musician.
Of the non-vocal pieces, while Tim Horton superbly performs Schumann’s ‘Pierrot’ from his early piano work Carnaval as the album’s opener and Amy Beach’s evocative Valse Amoureuse, it’s the two chamber pieces that stand out. Firstly, there’s Thea Musgrave’s Pierrot, a trio for Clarinet, Violin and Piano representing the triumvirate of characters in the Commedia, Pierrot, Columbine and the Harlequin. Each player, Robert Plane on clarinet, Benjamin Nabarro on violin and Tim Horton on piano plays their role to perfection and gives this wonderfully energetic and characterful piece the best possible advocacy. The arrangement of ‘Pierrot’s Tanzlied’ for cello & piano from Korngold’s opera Die tote Stadt features the gorgeously lush cello sound of Gemma Rosefield, and functions as a romantic amuse bouche immediately preceding the modernist main course.
As for the main event itself, Claire Booth, in her hugely erudite program note (with full text and translations) is quick to remark that the piece was commissioned by Albertine Zehme, an actress and singer – which surely highlights the importance of mastering ‘Sprechstimme’ (speak-singing) and finding an ideal balance between the two. Likewise, a performance needs to be alert to both the avant-garde musical material and the text, which at times can feel like a demented and somewhat disturbing cabaret. Here, Claire Booth is entirely successful, managing to declaim the text in an incredibly engaging yet completely musical way. Adept at altering her voice to get the best out of the text in, for example, the wonderful sotto voce at the end of ‘The Dandy’, the musical tears of ‘Madonna’ or the laughter of ‘Prayer to Pierrot’ it’s a role she truly inhabits, as one must, but at the same time maintains an incredible technical control over the material. No mean feat, but one which Claire Booth manages with great skill to bring this wonderfully weird and remarkable piece to life. The instrumental parts are also handled with great care and skill by Ensemble 360, with their experience playing together as an ensemble giving huge dividends in this most complex instrumental score.
This is a superb entry point, therefore, into Pierrot’s world for the uninitiated and also a rendition of Pierrot Lunaire which stands alongside classic accounts of the cycle by Christine Schäfer and Phyllis Bryn-Julson, and more recently the hugely extroverted Patricia Kopatchinskaja in her unique account from 2021.
Just as the Pierrot-ification of members of Ensemble 360 and Claire Booth on the wonderful cover brings the players to life, the musicians give life to Pierrot himself on this brilliantly conceived and executed disc.’ MusicWeb International October 2024
Throughout the ages, Commedia dell’arte’s Pierrot character has been a malleable concept, all things to all people. In this ingenious programme, devised by Claire Booth and Ensemble 360 around Schoenberg’s seminal Pierrot lunaire, the lively soprano focusses on musical responses that stretch from early 19th century Schumann to the one living composer on the record, Thea Musgrave. It’s a ready-made box of delights further coloured by its shifting ensemble requirements. Pianist Tim Horton opens with the jabbing persistence of Schumann’s miniature sketch from Carnaval. Extravagant songs by the lesser-known Joseph Marx and Poldowski (Régine Wieniawski) mark Booth’s warm entrance before the vividly characterised instrumental drama of Thea Musgrave’s 1985 Pierrot. Beyond further incidentals by Debussy, Amy Beach, Max Kowalski and Korngold lies the kaleidoscopic melodrama of Schoenberg’s Op.21. Booth is superbly expressive in this, infinite detailed nuances and sharpened wit parrying deliciously with Ensemble 360’s own virtuosic inventiveness. The Scotsman October 2024 ★★★★★
‘Many a major musical institution is largely ignoring the Schoenberg anniversary this year, so thank heavens for artists like Claire Booth, who here follows up her ‘Expressionist Music’ (Orchid, 7/24) with an album built around the composer’s seminal Pierrot lunaire.
While the earlier album was just Schoenberg, here we concentrate on the figure of Pierrot in music covering a century from the 1880s to the 1980s – plus a brief excursion back to the 1830s for the curtain-raiser: ‘Pierrot’ from Schumann’s Carnaval. There are songs, piano solos and chamber works – and there’s a gorgeous cello arrangement of Pierrot’s Tanzlied from Die tote Stadt. Booth and Ensemble 360 acquit themselves superbly in various configurations.
It’s certainly great to have Thea Musgrave’s 1985 Pierrot, a vividly descriptive, quietly unsettling three-hander in which Pierrot, Columbine and Harlequin are voiced by violin (Benjamin Nabarro), clarinet (Robert Plane) and piano (Tim Horton) respectively. And Booth has done some admirable exploration to turn up songs on the Pierrot theme by Joseph Marx, Poldowski (aka Régine Wieniawski) and Max Kowalski, as well as Debussy. All are brightly performed. And Amy Beach’s ‘Valse amoureuse’ is a beguiling piece, too.
The main course, however, is undoubtedly the Schoenberg, performed with the sort of conviction and commitment one would expect from Booth, with Ensemble 360 matching her with accurate, expressive instrumental support every inch of the way. The soprano’s approach offers what strikes me as a successful middle way between the extreme, as delivered by Patricia Kopatchinskaja, and the more objective approach we get from Christine Schäfer’s celebrated recording with Pierre Boulez. Indeed, appropriately enough given the focus of her earlier album, this is very much Schoenberg the expressionist.
Booth’s approach to Sprechgesang is fluid, with the vocal line relatively filled out and Schoenberg’s notated pitches treated very much as markers in a flexible line. Within these parameters, one can only marvel at the freedom and expressivity she brings to her performance, with much to enjoy in the details, too. For example, she realises the composer’s tremolandos – many of them ignored by Schäfer – convincingly, such as with the almost plaintive croak at the close of ‘Der kranke Mond’ (compellingly realised in tandem with Juliette Bausor’s flute).
And I like the witty dash of quasi-operatic vibrato she introduces to the word ‘sentimental’ in ‘Heimweh’. Like Kopatchinskaja, she adds a hint of neighing horse at ‘Schneemann der Lyrik’ in ‘Gebet an Pierrot’, but with more subtlety and control. We also, importantly, get the necessary sense of bitter tragedy, of the humanity behind the masks. There’s real drama in ‘Madonna’, and apocalyptic grandeur in ‘Die Kreuze’, after a powerful ‘Enthauptung’. The last two songs work their quiet, uncanny magic affectingly.
….a Pierrot to cherish, putting the seal on a fascinating, well-recorded release. Well worth seeking out.’ Gramophone October 2024
‘…the vivid effect of the whole is made still more vivid by Ensemble 360’s brilliant instrumental quintet….The biggest prize here is Thea Musgrave’s magnificent instrumental trio, Pierrot, from 1985, by itself a piece worth the album’s purchase. All in all, this album is a most notable contribution to Schoenberg’s 150th birthday year.’ The Times The Best Classical Albums of 2024 so far, September 2024