Fans of this still-neglected composer familiar only with the waltz-sequence from this eighty-minute ballet are likely to be disappointed by the full work, not that the music doesn’t suit Arthur Schnitzler’s miserable plot perfectly. The story is a dark gloss on the usual Commedia dell’Arte trope involving a love triangle between Pierrot, Pierrette and Arlecchino, only here Pierrot commits suicide by taking poison, Pierrette is supposed to join him but changes her mind (they are in love but she’s just married Arlecchino for some reason), and Arlecchino sadistically locks her in the room with hear dead would-be lover until she dances herself to death. Trust me, the music is as dismal as Arthur Schnitzler’s story, mostly subdued, monochromatic, and melodically wanting.
Ariane Matiakh and the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony do what they can with this unappetizing material. Now I’m as big a proponent of fin-de-siècle decadent doom and gloom as anyone, but the whole point of it is that the music should be so seductive and gorgeous that you wind up loving it anyway. Dohnányi’s mistake is in taking Schnitzler at his word. Perhaps he was overawed to be working with the famous author, but for whatever reason the result is merely desultory, and more importantly, really a dull slog. I can’t think of any moments when Matiakh and crew could have done more to liven things up when Dohnányi’s music gives them no opportunity. A disappointing release, then, and a lot of work done for little reward.
