The long-awaited complete version of Lulu, which received its premiere in 1979 with
Friedrich Cerha's finished orchestration of the third act, has fared well on disc. The recording of that first production at the
Paris Opéra, with
Teresa Stratas and conducted by
Pierre Boulez, remains a classic. Other outstanding releases include two versions on Chandos, the first with
Constance Hauman and conducted by
Ulf Schirmer, and the second a performance in English, with
Lisa Saffer and conducted by
Paul Daniel. This performance from a 1991 production at Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris, starring
Patricia Wise, deserves a place along with the best of them. It's a recording of live performances and has a compellingly dramatic urgency that's hard to reproduce in the studio. The recording quality is excellent -- details are clear, the sound is full and present, and the incidental stage sounds are minimal and add to the sense of theatrical space without being distracting.
Jeffrey Tate's conducting emphasizes the ways the score brilliantly illuminates the opera's mercurial shifts in dramatic tone. He also brings out the most expressive, humanistic, post-Romantic qualities of the score. Because of that, this is probably the version most likely to make converts of listeners new to
Berg's astringent writing. The singers are immensely engaging, making a strong case for creating empathy with characters who rarely behave sympathetically. The conventional wisdom is that the opera's characters (except for the self-sacrificing Countess Geschwitz) are so morally bankrupt that audiences tend to regard them more with detached and voyeuristic curiosity than with empathy; they're so dazzlingly nasty that they demand our attention, in spite of feelings of distaste for the way they treat each other. Here, though, the singers invest them with such authentic emotion that they do arouse sympathy, and that makes the tragic desolation of the ending all the more poignant. The singers are consistently first rate.
Patricia Wise is a fabulous Lulu; she actually sounds young and fresh, and that's a revelation. Singers with the chops to handle this daunting role tend to be, and sound, more mature.
Wise's youthfulness and genuine vulnerability make it more believable that the devastation Lulu wreaks all around her is not entirely calculated, but at least in part the result of her naïveté, and that makes the character far more sympathetic.
Peter Straka makes a passionate Alwa, and his voice is always true and pure.
Wolfgang Schöne's Dr. Schön is imposing and powerful. In some luxury casting,
Brigitte Fassbaender as Countess Geschwitz and
Hans Hotter as Schigolch are musically and dramatically compelling, and there are no weak links in the smaller roles. The entire cast sings or declaims
Berg's strenuous lines with conversational naturalness, and that adds hugely to the effectiveness of the production. Anyone who loves the opera will discover new dimensions of its humanity in this recording, and it makes an excellent introduction for anyone coming to it for the first time.