Recording Review
Anton Webern
Passacaglia; 5 Movements for Strings, Op.5; 6 Pieces, Op.6; 5 Pieces, Op.10; Symphony, Op.21; Variations, Op.30
Ulster Orchestra
Takuo Yuasa conductor
Naxos 8.554841
Gramophone, February 2002
by Arnold Whittall
Yuasa and his Irish band meet Webern's challenges with occasionally inspired success... The best performances here are those of the Symphony and the Variations, in which Takuo Yuasa's scrupulous balancing of constantly fluctuating textures and tempos doesn't inhibit a natural sense of flow, nor a positive realization of the music's often surprisingly robust poetic essence... In sum, reliable and at times inspired readings of music whose historical significance shouldn't inhibit a keen appreciation of its character and depth.
Fanfare, July/August 2002
by Art Lange
I hate to put it in these terms, but at the risk of sounding trendy, Yuasa makes Webern's music 'user-friendly.' He does so not by exaggeration, simplification, or compromise, but through solid musicianship and an interpretive middle ground that keeps the music, even at its most radical, connected to a tradition...The advantage of Yuasa's disc, beyond its musical value, is that it is on Naxos - a high visibility, low-price label. I hope that the modest cost of this disc will encourage listeners unfamiliar with - or even inimical to - Webern's music to take a chance, give a listen, and discover the Webern they never knew.
classicalcdreview.com February 2002
by R.D.
These admirably lucid and textually accurate performances were recorded two years ago in Ulster Hall at Belfast by Northern Ireland's premier orchestra, under the direction of its principal guest conductor Takuo Yuasa... this Naxos collection is a remarkable bargain for those with ears open to Webern's exploration of serial methods even while his "master," Schoenberg, was still formulating them... Naxos' recorded sound, produced by Tim Handley, is as pellucid as any on Webern discs past or current. Coupled with Yuasa's performances, the bargain should prove irresistible to adventurers.
Sensible Sound April/May 2002
by KWN
Although an Irish orchestra let by a Japanese conductor might seem a strange combination for Viennese music, the end result is an impressive effort indeed, one that would be recommendable even at full price.
BBC Music Magazine, February 2002
by Martin Cotton
Long gone are the days when orchestras approached Webern with trepidation, and quite right too: the Passacaglia is almost 100 years old, and clearly shows its roots in Brahms, as Richard Whitehouse points out in his excellent notes. Yuasa shapes it sensitively, with a keen ear for balance, though the strings are sometimes overpowered at the climaxes. But in the Op. 5 Pieces the detail comes through, as well as a sense of continuity, even as Webern begins to strip down his musical language. There's real power in the funeral march from the Op. 6 Pieces, and, as the instrumental lines become more fragmented and the textures sparser, the individual players respond positively to their exposure. In the Op. 5 Pieces, Webern is at his briefest and most attenuated, and here I felt just a hint of nervousness in some of the difficult solo lines, but again, Yuasa's sense of pacing and balance are fully in tune with the personality of the music. With the Symphony and Variations, we've reached the maturity of a great composer, and, especially in the last, the orchestra plays with real confidence and flair. The name of Webern may scare you, but this is beautiful music. Go on: risk a fiver. PERFORMANCE: * * * * SOUND: * * * *
The Independent (London), January 26, 2002
by Andrew Clarke
There aren't many major composers whose entire orchestral oeuvre fits on to one disc. But then most of Webern's great works, such as the Five Pieces, consist of miniature movements of just 30 seconds' duration. The conductor Takuo Yuasa contrasts these Serialist masterpieces with the late-romanticism of Webern's student piece, Passacaglia, drawing lucid playing from his Ulster forces.
The Sunday Herald, January 27, 2002
by Christopher Lambton
For most people, Anton Webern is still pretty tough going. You don't hear of people slumping in an armchair and nodding off to Webern in the way they do with Mozart piano concertos. Along with Berg and Schoenberg, he was one of the key members of the second Viennese school, a movement dating from the early 20th century which unpicked the rich musical fabric of Romanticism. Webern's music, apart from a handful of early pieces, has a reputation for skeletal textures, explosive climaxes and the atonal squeaks that keep so-called modern classical music out of the best-seller charts. But time has moved on. Some of the orchestral music on this disc is almost 100 years old, and while it has not exactly mellowed, it now seems rather closer in style to the late 19th century Romanticism with its passionate melodies, anguished discords and delicately wrought textures. The use of the orchestra now seems relatively conventional - no tam tams, marimbas, electric guitars or any of the other extraneous noises that are so popular with the contemporary gang. But nor is there any concession to popularity. There is a keen sense that Webern is writing music at its most essential: nothing more, nothing less than what is absolutely right. Easy listening then? Not quite, but a superlative set of performances by the Ulster Orchestra under the skilled guidance of Takuo Yuasa. After the near Romanticism of the early Passacaglia, the disc works steadily through Five Movements for Strings, Six Pieces, Five Pieces, the op.21 Symphony, and the op.30 Variations. Dip in. Some pieces are extraordinarily beautiful - not pretty like a Chopin nocturne, but luminous and transparent, as though a whole world of meaning is compressed into every note.
ClassicsToday.com, January 31, 2002
by Michael Jameson
If you're new to the music of Anton Webern, this superb budget CD is just the introduction you need. Until now, there's been nothing much to tempt those unwilling to pay top price for Herbert von Karajan's seminal recordings, or the equally engrossing and sometimes more revelatory DG remakes with the Berlin Philharmonic under Pierre Boulez. In contrast, Takuo Yuasa isn't a household name, and his Ulster Orchestra isn't in the big league, but don't let those factors deter serious evaluation of this release alongside the best available alternatives. Yuasa's account of the Op. 1 Passacaglia affords striking evidence of the high quality of his ensemble. The playing is fine-grained and exact, and the cumulative effect of the performance is mightily impressive, with the vehement 16th variation especially telling. Webern's Symphony Op. 21 may only last seven minutes or so, but Yuasa manages to pack a terrific wealth of detail and vast emotional range into its diminutive time-frame. There are some superb moments in the performance, none more shattering than the fearsome outburst from the first horn during the second section. Equally shocking is the whip-crack violence Yuasa unleashes in the third of the Five Pieces Op. 10, played very fast and with impressive precision by this accomplished team. The awesome funeral march (No. 4 of the Six Pieces Op. 6) hasn't quite the impact of Karajan's, and Boulez's is more monstrous yet; but Yuasa's skill at building angst-ridden crescendos comes into its own in one of the finest of many outstanding moments on this recording. The muted trumpet solo in No. 5 (with celesta and glockenspiel) has the required eerie quality, and the uneasy stasis of the close is persuasively attained...Yuasa's accounts have the spare, skeletal feel and expressive economy that makes them very rewarding indeed. An outstanding achievement.
The Birmingham Post, January 19, 2002
by Christopher Morley
This is an extraordinarily useful and important release which at under a fiver ought to leap on everyone's shelves. Takuo Yuasa and the fine, almost dapper Ulster Orchestra give assured, indeed passionate readings of these little gems by Schoenberg disciple Anton Webern. Certainly there are worlds 'within a grain of sand' here, every note fastidiously chosen by this composer's amazingly imaginative ear, and the performers respond with a wonderful range of colour and timbre; particularly relishable are the frequently whooping horns imparting an authentically alpine atmosphere to this rewarding music. Though coming in at much less than an hour (quite appropriate, when the composer's entire output can fit easily onto three CDS), this selection covers a generous range of works from throughout Webern's life. It begins with the Passacaglia Op.1, almost his longest single movement, with a feverishly Mahlerian soundworld, and continues through pre- and post-serial compositions: the Five Movements for Strings, given with a strong rhythmic impetus; the Six Pieces and Five Pieces for Orchestra (strongly contoured in these readings, with a vivid dramatic undercurrent); the splendid little Symphony in an account which could have been more acutely defined; and the late Variations. Not a disc for continuous listening, but one which will bring constant and sometimes unexpected rewards for dipping-in.
The Observer (London), January 6, 2002
by Tariq O'Ragan
"The music on this recording represents the complete compositional life of Webern (1883-1945). Starting with the extended romanticism of the Passacaglia, Op. 1, Yuasa's dextrous direction of the Ulster Orchestra pushes the listener unwittingly into the composer's atonal period with the Five Movements for Strings, Op. 5 . The Five Pieces, Op. 10 (each lasting 30-60 seconds) is undoubtedly the highlight of this disc, with the orchestra at their most intricately delicate. The programme closes with two pieces from the composer's 12-note period: the Symphony, Op. 21 and his penultimate work, Variations, Op. 30."
The Northern Echo, December 20, 2001
by Dave Robson
It has taken me some 40 years to come to terms with Webern's extremely concentrated musical language. This disc from the Ulster Orchestra and Takao Yuasa presents his economy of thought with a sure-footedness and an emotional input that can open ears. The Symphony Op.21 must be the world's smallest at under eight minutes and his Passacaglia has a late romantic angst. Do try - at under (GBP) 5 it's worth buying. ****
The Times (London), Tuesday, December 4, 2001
by Geoff Brown
Treading where most big mainstream companies wouldn't dare, Naxos has followed its Schoenberg CD with a whip through his pupil's orchestral oeuvre, from the late-romantic anguish of his Op 1 Passacaglia, through the shrinking sound world of the Op6 and Op 10 pieces to the ebb and flow of the world's smallest symphony and the 1940 Variations.
With Takuo Yuasa conducting the Ulster Orchestra in a resonant acoustic, you don't get the crystalline beauty Boulez lavishes on these miniatures. Instead, you get something perhaps more useful for first-time listeners: genuine emotion, born of an urge to share Webern's treasures. I can think of a million worse ways of spending £4.99.