@rafevw -- Hey! That's the recording I mention above! Jus' gotta love it.
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
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A favorite: Richard Strauss - Lucia Popp • Klaus Tennstedt, London Philharmonic Orchestra* – Four Last Songs / Death And Transfiguration on EMI
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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 |
Not sure how or why you arrived at that conclusion. As I see it, there’s been lots of love for Strauss expressed here. Some reservations expressed in some cases? Sure, including by yourself. Unconditional love? I save that for my children 😊. If you are looking for specific examples of works that I love without reservation, one that immediately comes to mind is “Capriccio”. Everything positive that has been stated about Strauss, but a relatively short (one act) work….for an opera, so it doesn’t overwhelm with the amount of amazing beauty. It also has one of the great basset horn (a member of the clarinet family) parts in the literature. Btw, on the subject of familial love. There is plenty of love IN many of Strauss’ works. The listener will notice how he featured the French horn in many of his works. His father was a horn player and Richard wrote many wonderful horn parts for the horn so that his father (a working musician) would have plenty of great solos to play. |
Strauss is so loved that movies used some of his orchestra pieces almost as often as Vivaldi... But the way he used voices is for me the deal... And i will go for Reiner recording for sound quality, there is a 63 cd box i am curious about... But some of my favorite musical ectasy are not well recorded at all...😁 Truly more less unrecognized geniuses are more for me like Scriabin or Gesualdo, or Robert Simpson...
Our "unconditional" love for a composer can only go to a composer who is way more than a genius only... It must be for humanity as a whole as Bach certainly was, a revelation, for each one of us, and in particular as Bible for musicians... Bach is that, as only very few other composers could be who reveal to us unrecognized aspects of music on a spiritual side...But these others are matter of personal experiences and we will differ for our choices... Josquin des Prez or Scriabin and before him Bruckner was revelatories changing life experiences for me...At some revelatory times in my life... But it was never the esthetic dimensions alone that awake me ultimately in a composer , but the ethical truth revelation over the rethorical means and through the esthetical but over it... If i was more gifted as a musician and i am not, i could perhaps be more sensible to the pure esthetical aspect of all musicians... But i dont read music nor play music... Each musical event is for me a seeing through the veil more than a sensual event...It is the reason why i love so much jazz, it is because the sensual and sensible living dimension of my body is there in a way it cannot be there in the three hours Christus Liszt... it is also the reason why through a completely different ESTHETICAL doors, i love so much Iranian or Indian or Chinese or Japan music or middle eastern one... Here esthetic aspect, as new and complete ly different new roads, reveal a new way to ultimate truth...
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