Berg: Violin Concerto, Seven Early Songs & Three Pieces for Orchestra

With such innate feeling for the music of Gustav Mahler, it’s no surprise that American composer and conductor Michael Tilson Thomas is completely at home in the work of the next Viennese generation, particularly that of Alban Berg. Here, American-Israeli violinist Gil Shaham is completely attuned to the Violin Concerto that begins this album’s delicate soundworld and its depth of emotion, making for a very special performance. American singer Susanna Phillips is a fine companion in the Seven Early Songs, written in the heat of Berg’s love for his future wife, Helene Nahowski. The most advanced soundworld comes in the Three Pieces, which Tilson Thomas judges superbly.