I'm just not that strong a Richard Strauss fan. The only piece that truly pushes all my buttons is The Four Last Songs, which I have on an old Angel/EMI LP with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and George Szell conducting the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra. Yeah, Don Juan is fun, and Also Sprach Zarathustra has that great opening statement, but I'd personally just rather put on something by Mahler.
Richard Strauss Recordings
Strauss is one of a very few Composers who had equal success in both Opera and Symphonic realm. For the purpose of this discussion I am confining my discussion to non Opera, so essentially: Zarathustra, Till, Don Juan, Heldenleben, Eine Alpinesymphony, Death and Transfiguration, Rosenkavalier and Capriccio extracts, Metamophasen, the early works (Macbeth, Aus Italian) and the one that I really dislike—Symphonica Domestica.
Sine these are such great Orchestral showcases they have oft been recorded and many as large collections.
I’ve been listening through the Kempe set with the Dresden Staatkapelle recently (the latest reissue on Warner) from the early seventies and primarily comparing it with two sets -the Reiner/Chicago set, dating from the dawn of the stereo era (Zarathustra recorded-in stereo-in to 1954!) from it’s last Sony reissue, and the Karajan/Berlin Phil set from the early digital era.
The first observation here, this being an Audiophile Site, is the incredible quality of the first two sets. At no point, even with the Reiner recordings made before I was born, did I feel that I was listening to anything less than superb reproduction. It’s amazing how much digital replay has advanced, and how much information is in these old tapes. By contrast, the worse recording was the Karajan, as DG hadn’t figured out the new technology, and Von K. no doubt had a hand in twiddling the knobs at the mix. It’s over bright and pace any DG recording of the last third of the last century, lacking in bass and presence.
The Reiner and Kempe are superb collections. It’s a pity that Reiner never recorded the Alpine Symphony, and occasionally with Kempe one gets the feeling of being hemmed in by the bar lines, but those are relatively rare instances and the DSK of that vintage probably still had players who had been conducted by the Composer, who favored that Orchestra in his later years.
I have several other later Strauss recordings but probably it will be just Kempe and Reiner for me going forward
Showing 5 responses by edcyn
@rafevw -- Hey! That's the recording I mention above! Jus' gotta love it. |
@magister Stravinsky actually did change my life...or at least my musical aesthetic. My dad would regularly bring home an LP of classical music for me to give a try, and one of them was Petrushka on a cheapie LP with the Cento Soli orchestra of Paris. After a couple of difficult listens I began to absolutely love it. For a little while, one of my grammar school teachers would invite us to bring in our favorite LP for the rest of the class to listen to. I brought in Petrushka. Boy did everyone hate it! In any case, I still listen to the thing. |
Thanks for the response. Logic has always somewhat of an alien concept in my life. It's always been more of a tool than an outright passion or goal. I made a pretty good living in the film industry employing logical arguments to influence those with the bucks to follow my often totally illogical thoughts & tastes. In other words, you can blame me for the downfall of Western Civilization... |
@magister Thanks for the good words. And yeah, I totally love logic. It will always be an essential, wonderful tool. But still a tool. |