R. STRAUSS Der Rosenkavalier: Suite. Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks. 4 Last Songs • Mariss Jansons, cond; Anja Harteros (sop); Bavarian RSO • BR 900707 (63:33)


In the program notes, Mariss Jansons is quoted as saying in reference to Richard Strauss that “His music has accompanied me all my life and still stirs me very deeply.” Despite that, his interpretations are curiously understated. The Rosenkavalier Suite is beautifully, almost reverentially played, but is surprisingly subdued. The explosive opening and buildup to Octavian’s grand entry in act II lack passion, exhilaration, and breathless anticipation. Jansons’ pacing is consistently slow to the point where the “Presentation of the Rose” sequence almost loses momentum. The same is true of the waltzes. They sound lovely, but all of this lyrical and slow music tends to drag and lack dynamic contrast, especially in this suite (as opposed to Antál Doráti’s version with its well-positioned and more extensive inclusion of the comical music that opens act III). The Trio is gorgeous at the by now expected very slow speed (how can it not be?). The temptation to linger over this sublime music must be nearly irresistible. However, this Marschallin, Octavian, and Sophie sound like they are on Valium.


Till Eulenspiegel is similarly relaxed, slow, and finely nuanced. The overall effect is light and balletic (not a bad thing). Jansons’s Till is a very lighthearted prankster. In this case, ample contrast is provided by some incisive and powerful bass drum thwacks. It is a pleasure to hear the flawless horn and woodwind soloists in this incredibly refined orchestra.


If you are sympathetic toward the Jansons/Anja Harteros interpretation of the Four Last Songs , this will be for you because they do it really well. Harteros is unfailingly pitch-perfect and her approach is almost operatic. Jansons’ tempos are middle of the road, but the general impression is that they are swifter. In contrast to Der Rosenkavalier , he doesn’t linger here. The execution of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra is truly amazing throughout this recording. I can’t remember hearing Strauss’s remarkable orchestration being presented with this degree of clarity that sounds more cool and transparent than dense and lush.


The sound is solid without ever being overtly flashy. Audiophiles may complain that this is the wrong way to record Strauss, but the engineering does successfully complement the laid-back performances. There is a good compromise between realistic orchestral balance and fine instrumental detail. Harteros is miked very closely and appears to be in a brighter acoustic setting than the orchestra.


These performances will appeal to anyone who wants immaculate and well-controlled orchestral and vocal execution. Clearly, this is not an interpretive approach to Strauss that will appeal to everyone. It works best in the Four Last Songs , which are indeed very special. Even though the Rosenkavalier Suite sounds a little cool and sedate, you still get the opportunity to hear Harteros and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra work their magic in music that is clearly in their blood.


FANFARE: Arthur Lintgen

***This is the 100th Release of the BR-KLASSIK Label!***

At the age of just fifteen, the budding composer Richard Strauss (1864-1949) lost his way during a summer hike on the Heimgarten in the Bavarian Alps, and ended up in a thunderstorm. The next day, he fantasized about the experience on the piano. - Twenty years later, that memory had matured into a concept describing a one-day hike in the form of a symphonic poem, and in 1915 – a further fifteen years later – Strauss finally completed his masterpiece. The hike begins in the darkness before dawn, and after sunrise the ascent goes through a forest, past a stream and a waterfall, through meadows and pastures, and up to a glacier. The hiker then loses his way, and after several risky moments arrives at the summit, where he also experiences a vision. The weather then suddenly worsens, and the descent is accompanied by heavy rain and fierce thunderstorms. The eventful day - summarized in just sixty minutes of music - ends with a sunset, and darkness returns. "An Alpine Symphony" is probably Strauss' most famous symphonic poem. Its content is easily understandable, and the work became especially well-known for its gigantic orchestra. The music is far from heavy-handed, however, with many of the passages orchestrated like chamber music. Like a kind of greeting from the Bavarian Alps, as it were, the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks and its chief conductor Mariss Jansons have placed this masterpiece, and the music of Richard Strauss in general, on the programme of their forthcoming tour of Asia in late 2016. The live recording of “Alpine Symphony” concerts planned for October 2016 in Munich’s Philharmonie im Gasteig is enhanced on this latest release from BR-KLASSIK by the addition of Strauss’ symphonic poem "Death and Transfiguration", first performed in 1890; the recording here is of concerts performed in Munich in February 2014. – We thus have two very recent interpretations of two of this great German composer’s most important tone poems on one release.

These discs are hybrid Super Audio CDs playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.

The radio recordings between 1939 and 1945 with the Berlin Philharmonic and Wilhelm Furtwängler are among classical music’s most compelling sound documents. Created at the peak of the collaboration between orchestra and conductor, Furtwängler’s artist personality is conveyed more vividly than anywhere else. What can be heard is music in which inspiration and the expressive will know no bounds and in which, not least, the existential experience of the Second World War reverberates. For the first time, the Berlin Philharmonic are releasing a complete edition of these recordings.

Wilhelm Furtwängler is accorded almost mythical status to this day. Biographically and artistically rooted in the 19th century, he embodies a bridge to the late-Romantic period and the founding years of the Berlin Philharmonic, whose chief conductor he was from 1922.

Furtwängler’s auratic charisma stems from an intriguing basic interpretive concept which avoided authoritarian gestures and deliberately aimed at the blurring of tonal contours. The result was a warm, mixed sound, in which developments and intensifications never appear calculated, but seem to grow organically.

This edition not only brings together all surviving radio recordings of the period, but also draws on the best available material – in particular, original tapes, which were taken to the Soviet Union after the war and only returned to Germany from the early 1990s onwards. Especially for this edition, the recordings have been carefully restored, digitally sampled using state-of-the-art technology, and remastered in 24-bit resolution. A total of 21 concerts are presented here, in whole or in part. The edition’s features include numerous historical photos, articles on the history behind the recordings, plus an extensive essay by the American musicologist Richard Taruskin on Furtwängler’s art – all of which results in a release which provides an opportunity to discover and relive this great chapter in the history of the Berliner Philharmoniker in all its facets as never before.

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REVIEW:

Do you want this box? Yes, you do. Is it worth it? Again, yes, almost certainly, it is. For one thing, these are the recordings that have come, more than any other, to define this conductor’s identity, and his legacy. The audio restoration does wonders for the piano concertos in particular. These are the concerts that, so they said later, made life worth living for many Berliners. They matter.

– Gramophone

"Anne Schwanewilms is one of the leading Strauss sopranos of our times. Here she offers some plums from the composer’s huge output for the soprano voice.

The trio from the last act of Der Rosenkavalier is one of the most sumptuous passages in all Strauss. It’s very well sung here - and, not for the first time on the disc, the Gürzenich-Orchester is inspired by Markus Stenz to some gorgeous playing. My only complaint is that the extract is tantalisingly short. Given the short playing time of the disc could not the remainder of the closing scene have been included, even if Miss Schwanewilms would not have been involved?

There’s ample compensation, however, in the form of the closing scene from Capriccio. There’s some wonderful singing here, especially during the rapturous music to which Strauss sets Olivier’s sonnet when the Countess reads it. Miss Schwanewilms is particularly passionate in tone at ‘Du wirst geliebt und kannst dich nicht’. Then, as the scene draws to a close she’s rapt at ‘Du Spiegelbild der verliebten Madeleine’, spinning a delectable vocal line. From this point until the end of the track the orchestral playing is notably distinguished.

She’s also excellent as Arabella. At the start of the solo her singing is touching and with a hint of vulnerability to it. Later, from ‘Dann aber, wie ich Sie gespürt’, she becomes more impassioned, as the music and the sentiments of the text demand."

-- John Quinn, MusicWeb International

"Like his mentor Mariss Jansons, Andris Nelsons has developed a special affinity with the music of Richard Strauss, in which his conducting combines a thrilling impulse with an appreciation of the finer points of instrumental detail and evocative atmosphere. In a mammoth work such as Also sprach Zarathustra, Strauss does lay traps for interpreters who maybe have less finely honed instincts of taste, pacing and orchestral texture than Nelsons does, but his vision of this half-hour, Nietzsche-inspired score is of such clarity and integrity as to cast aside the accusations of posturing and garishness that are sometimes levelled against it." - Geoffrey Norris, The Telegraph

This new release features the complete symphonic recordings of OehmsClassics with Bertrand de Billy and the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra from 2003-2010 when Bertrand de Billy was Chief Conductor in Vienna. Bertrand de Billy was born in Paris where he studied music. Starting as a member of an orchestra, he soon took on conducting. 1993-95 he was first Kapellmeister and Deputy Music Director at the Anhaltisches Theatre in Dessau, 1996-98 he held the same position at the Vienna Volksoper. 1999-2004 he was Music Director at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona and 2002-2010 he was Music Director of the Radio Symphony Orchestra in Vienna. Bertrand de Billy is principal guest of the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne (2013-2016). Since 2014/2015 he is also principal guest conductor of the Dresdner Philharmonie.