Arnold Schoenberg - Works (Kirill Petrenko)

Information

Composer: Arnold Schoenberg

• Transfigured Night, Op. 4
• Chamber Symphony No. 1 for 15 Solo Instruments, Op. 9
• Jacob's Ladder, Oratorio for solo voices, choruses and orchestra
• Variations for Orchestra, Op. 31
• Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 36

Patricia Kopatchinskaja, violin

Rundfunkchor Berlin

Berliner Philharmoniker

Kirill Petrenko, conductor

Date: 2025

Label: Berliner Philharmoniker Recordings

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This Berliner Philharmoniker release with Kirill Petrenko challenges the view of Arnold Schoenberg as merely a provocateur and radical. Instead, it highlights the balance of intellect and emotion in his music, showing how his twelve-tone method served expressive ends. Marking the aftermath of Schoenberg’s 150th anniversary, the album features five key works spanning his stylistic evolution, from late-Romantic roots to twelve-tone innovations. By presenting this range, Petrenko and the orchestra reveal Schoenberg not as an icon of scandal, but as a composer of profound depth whose art integrates both “heart and brain,” as he himself once described.

Kirill Petrenko (b. 1972, Omsk, Siberia) trained in Russia and Austria before building his operatic career with the Meininger Theater and Komische Oper Berlin. He later served as general music director of the Bayerische Staatsoper (2013–2020), while also conducting at leading houses including the Vienna State Opera, Covent Garden, Paris Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, and Bayreuth Festival. Since 2019/20, he has been chief conductor and artistic director of the Berliner Philharmoniker, focusing on the Classical-Romantic repertoire and championing overlooked composers such as Josef Suk and Korngold. His acclaimed work includes Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Strauss operas Die Frau ohne Schatten and Elektra.