Cabaret Songs DVD
Schoenberg
Witty, ironic, risque! This DVD of the 'Cabaret Songs' or 'Brettl Lieder' of 1901 shows a surprising side and unknown side of Arnold Schoenberg! Never publised during the composer's lifetime they prove that Schoenberg knew how to compose a popular song and had a wicked sense of humor! If he had not been the most advanced classical composer of the 20th century there is no doubt he could have had a successful career as a writer of waltzes!
Performed by soprano Louise Malloy, accompanied by William Dart. Produced & directed by Janette Heffernan. The 'Cabaret Songs' were part of a double bill with Schoenberg's opera 'Erwartung'.
Schoenberg in God Zone
This short documentary explains how this performance in a tiny Victorian pumphouse on the edge of a volcanic lake in Auckland in the South Pacific came about in 1980.
In those days Auckland could have been on another planet! A group of talented artists banded together to present the best that the world's composers had to offer. Hence this mind blowing double bill.
From the sublime, 'Erwartung' perhaps the greatest lyric work of the twentieth century to the ridiculous nonsense of 'The Cabaret Songs' which needless to say were never published in Schoenberg'swere given to an audience of 600, the theatre only held 200 per performance so it was sold out.
These performances made such an impression that Janette Heffernan was encouraged to have them videotaped. This was a brand new concept in 1980 and other than a keepsake there was little she could do with it except remember three amazing performances. It is only now 27 years later that it is possible to show these performances to a world audience.
True the cameras of that age were definitely not up to the digital standards of today but it shows what can be produced and achieved in artistic isolation thanks to the generosity of Larry Schoenberg, the composer's son who has graciously given permission for this DVD of the 'Cabaret Songs'.
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