A mixed collection of pieces, performers, and recordings, this two-disc set of music by Alban Berg lacks cogency -- chronologically, it starts in the middle, jumps forward to the end, and then circles back for the beginning -- consistency -- the performances range from the magnificent
Alban Berg Quartet to the mediocre
Simon Rattle -- and comprehensiveness -- while the Berg fan is of course grateful for everything here, the fan is also inevitably disappointed by all that is not here: a string quartet, a chamber concerto, a concert aria, several short piano pieces, and many, many songs are missing along with his two great operas (except, that is, as excerpts). But despite these flaws, this two-disc set has one quality that more than makes up for all it lacks: it has Berg's music on it, music that, although infinitely the most attractive and accessible of the Second Viennese School, is still horribly neglected in performance and recording. Thus, even hearing Berg's massive and monumental Drei Orchester Stücke, his tragic and transcendent Violin Concerto, his sexy and scary Lulu Suite, his romantic and retrogressive Sieben frühe Lieder, his ardent and impulsive Piano Sonata, his weird and wacky Vier Stücke for clarinet and piano, his brief but heartbreaking Act III Interlude from Wozzeck, and his passionate and despairing Lyric Suite for string quartet is a wonderful thing, and anyone who loves Berg's music -- and that should include anyone who loves the music of
Mahler and
Strauss -- will be invariably drawn to this collection. Considering it was recorded in four different counties over 15 yeas, EMI's digital sound is uniformly clean, warm, and colorful.