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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

mahler123

Showing 4 responses by mahler123

mahler123 OP
3,062 posts
 

I have had a bit of a love hate relationship with his music, being immediately attracted to Don, Till, Don Quixote,and Death and Transfiguration. I was repelled initially by the egoism in Heldenleben but now I’ve surrendered to its sheer genius (listen to Strauss lampooning his critics with the chirping piccolos, and then listen to the song in Meredith Wilson’s The Music Man for the town harpies that gossip about Marian The Librarian). These are Strauss greatest non Operatic Music, gorgeous Melodie’s, unbelievable orchestration, and real narrative power. The end of Don Quixote is as moving as anything in music, and the small vignettes along the way, such as the bleating sheep that the befuddled Don has mistaken for enemy soldiers, are exquisite.

Two works that I have never fully embraced are Alpine Symphony and Metamorphasen. The former has some superb music, such as the storm sequence, alternating with some second rate Strauss. Metamorphasen, written as the rubble of the Third Reich had not finished bouncing, perhaps for me is undone by its adherents, who make all sorts of claims about what great philosophical truth it contains. For me it’s overlong, although it does have some fine and moving passages, and for me a Strauss canvass without the color of a full Orchestra is like a Rembrandt woodcut-undoubtedly created by a Master but ultimately frustrating because we know what these artists can do with a full palette.

 

Zarathustra is a special case.  Inevitably the rest of it after the 2001 opening also seems anticlimactic.  It takes a lowering of expectations on the part of the listener and more than most of RS requires a Conductor to really shape it.  Haitink with the Concertgebouw gets a slight nod here over Reiner and Kempe.

 

The Domestic Symphony is beyond redemption 

mahler123 OP
3,062 posts
 

Interesting in that in this particular crowd, except for myself and @jasonbourne71  there doesn’t seem to be any love for Strauss outside of the Four Last Songs.  At the very least I would have thought it would have appealed to the audiophile aspect.  Oh well

mahler123 OP
3,062 posts
 

Well, to be clear, I wasn’t being critical of anyone, especially anyone who posted here (reminds me of being synagogue on Rose Hashanah and being bitched out by the rabbi for the poor attendance.  Like Dude, you’re yelling at the wrong people).

I am just surprised that outside of the 4 Last Songs most posters don’t have much appreciation for him.  They and their systems are missing some fine music.  Nuff said

mahler123 OP
3,062 posts
 

First of all, I really appreciate the discussion here.

I think that there is too much of a tendency to criticize Strauss for a certain slickness and commercialism.  Strauss never wanted to be a starving composer eking out an existence and be feted decades after his demise.  He certainly engaged in self promotion.  I find none of this objectionable.  He became a more self conscious “Great Artist “ as he aged, and that is one of the problems with having created an incredible body of work in his younger years.  Stravinsky had a similar trajectory.

  in Don Quixote I feel that Strauss has a real empathy for the Knight Errant, after the closing music is simply magical.  Heldenleben ends with great sincerity.  And Zarathustra reflects beliefs that Strauss held dear, the same beliefs that inspired Mahler Three.

  I am listening to the Reiner Zarathustra now, from 1954.  Unbelievable record for that age

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