Christine Schäfer: Pierre Boulez
by Oliver Herrmann, Pierre Boulez
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DVD details
Actor: Christine Schafer, Natascha OsterkornDirector: Oliver Herrmann, Pierre Boulez
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); German (Original Language)
Format: Classical, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.77:1
Running Time: 126 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-06-18
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Arthaus Musik
DVD Reviews of Christine Schäfer: Pierre Boulez
DVD Review: The Great, the Brave and the Banal
Summary: 4 Stars
If you're like me, you're considering buying this DVD because you love Schoenberg, Schumann, and Schaefer, in that order. You might also be partial to song cycles, expressionism, romanticism, Schoenberg's pivotal atonal work and Schumann's greatest art songs. You might also have heard Christina Schaefer's interpretations of Berg and Krenek, and be familiar with her unearthly tone and startlingly clear intonation -- rarities in the interpretation of twelve-tone, atonal and free-tonal early twentieth century music.
If so, you'll want to own this DVD if only to know more about Schaefer's performance style, development and milieu in Berlin, which seems more open to off-kilter (non-academic) ambition than classical music's rigid hierarchy in the States.
The great: The performance of Pierrot Lunaire is stellar. Additionally, Schaefer's rendition of Dichterliebe may be enjoyed without -- or with -- the imposition of non-music-related video footage (the DVD offers both options). Personally, I prefer seeing the performers without an imposed visual narrative.
Singing Pierrot, Schaefer is in her own lofty league; in terms of intonation, she even bests greats like Jessye Norman and Christa Ludwig. I still prefer Dichterliebe versions by Fritz Wunderlich and the incredibly literary Dietrich-Fischer Dieskau, but Schaefer's interpretation is well worth hearing (and seeing).
The brave: Schaefer deserves props for sheer courage. In her videos, the singer appears nude, soaks in unpleasant-looking viscous solids, caresses hanging meat and consents to several other potentially embarrassing scenarios that other acclaimed classical singers would never dream of trying (let alone, preserving on DVD). Aside from Charlotte Moorman (whom I love but who isn't as good), no other musician of Schaefer's caliber has ever risked so much dignity for work that's as likely to be ill-received.
Be advised, parents and sticklers for good taste: The videos aren't for children, but neither are they meant to titillate. Think of these vids as in the spirit of 60s experimental work -- Cage/Cunningham, Paik, Cornelius Cardew -- but with a 90s horror/Euro art film vocabulary.
The inclusion of these vids with Pierrot is entirely appropriate: vast numbers of listeners hated Schoenberg's song cycle in the early twentieth century, and his use of Sprechstimme was at *least* as suspect in 1912 as Schaefer's videos seem at present. Yes, Schoenberg's achievement was infinitely greater. But both musicians deserve respect for doing what they felt was important and not what audiences expected.
The banal: Watching Oliver Hermann's videos can be excruciating. If you've seen them once, there's little reason to watch again. While I appreciate their having been done in the first place -- in the sense that lesser films by Lars von Trier had to be made to allow for better work -- they distract from the rich ambiguities of the music itself. In a sense, they're reminiscent of bad Ken Russell.
If you're partial to the Schaefer-Boulez performance of Pierrot but can't stand the idea of gratuitous video content, then I suggest you pick up the Deutsche-Grammophon CD version instead of this DVD. The CD contains additional works by Schoenberg as well -- "Herzgewachse" (Op. 20), in particular, is exceptional.
The world of classical DVDs is filled with failed experiments: The release of Penderecki's Requiem, for example, which tries to allow us to read the score while watching the orchestra but prevents us from doing either. In certain ways, this DVD is another such failure.
Still, failed experiments are often suffused with promise and ambition, and can reveal more in fragments than they deliver on the whole. That's why I hope potential buyers and fans will support an effort like this: ambition leads to greater things. Schaefer's artistic choices are as unconventional as the arc of her career, but her gifts are undeniable.
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