This recording, live from the Vienna State Opera in 1955, was taped just weeks before virtually the same cast (there's only one major difference) entered the studio and recorded it for Decca. The performances are remarkably similar: Karl Böhm, a master of this complex, beautiful score, presents it almost complete (there are, I believe, very small cuts here and there) and has assembled a superb, enthralled, and enthralling cast. The one major change from the studio recording is that whereas Paul Schöffler was the Barak for Decca, here we get Ludwig Weber, whose voice may be somewhat less beautiful than Schöffler's, but is easily as expressive, endearing, and impressive.

Leonie Rysanek is the familiar Empress, seemingly hypnotized and enchanted, her voice settling down after some initial pitch problems mid-range to offer a glorious reading, with gleaming, cutting top notes and true sentiment throughout. She makes us feel for the character and her plight. Her Emperor is the beefy tenor Hans Hopf, who is less crude than usual and has the notes and stamina for the role, particularly in the seemingly endless final scene, which, when presented as complete as is it here, can be quite a challenge.

As the Dyer's Wife, Christel Goltz is not quite in the same class with the others; her singing is secure and good enough but she lacks any subtlety and can't compare with, say, Christa Ludwig in the role. Elisabeth Höngen's Nurse is nasty and biting, and she gets through the role without shouting. Kurt Böhme's Messenger is potent and the rest of the cast--Vienna stalwarts from the '50s--is top notch.

Böhm captures just the correct otherworldliness of the music, and the Vienna Philharmonic, tam tam, gongs and all, plays with great feeling and love. The sound is pure, clear monaural (the studio recording is early stereo but is essentially no better), with even the harps audible; Strauss' exotica is underlined but not so prominent that we can't hear the gorgeously tonal score. The vibrancy of the live experience is thrilling. If you own the Decca, you won't need this, really, but you must own one or the other.

--Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com

Classical Music

Live recording: Festspielhaus, July 29/30, 1958

Lisa Della Casa and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau - this was an ideally cast Arabella with a dream couple in the leading roles. For years this production was a model for Munich and Vienna. It can now be heard for the first time in its original version, with the incomparable Strauss sound of the Vienna Philharmonic under Joseph Keilberth - the sensation of the 1958 Salzburg Festival.

*** This title is a reissue of a Japanese release with liner notes in Japanese. ***

This is a DSD (Direct Stream Digital) recording

This is a DSD (Direct Stream Digital) recording

Includes polka(s) by Johann Strauss Jr.. Ensemble: Philadelphia Orchestra. Conductor: Eugene Ormandy.
Includes waltz(es) by Johann Strauss Jr.. Ensemble: Philadelphia Orchestra. Conductor: Eugene Ormandy.

Reviews of some of the earlier releases that make up this set:

Symphonia domestica, Le bourgeois gentilhomme
"Fritz Reiner’s 1956 performance of Richard Strauss’s Symphonia domestica was essentially its first recording in modern stereo sound. As such, it probably introduced the work to many American listeners. Prior to this, recordings conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and Clemens Krauss and the composer himself with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra were undoubtedly authoritative, but hardly competitive from a sonic standpoint. Subsequently, fine stereo versions by Rudolf Kempe (EMI), Herbert von Karajan (Deutsche Grammophon), and Zubin Mehta (Decca-London) have been released, but none of them are superior to Reiner’s justly famous Living Stereo interpretation. This represents the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at its peak, and Reiner had no peer as a conductor of the orchestral music of Richard Strauss. If anything, Reiner’s no-nonsense style is even more suited to the charming, chamber-like Le bourgeois gentilhomme Suite."

-- Arthur Lintgen, Fanfare [1/2008]

Scenes From Salome And Elektra
"Solti's now-infamous comment that the Chicago Symphony was a provincial orchestra before he appeared is further discounted by the reissue of these unrivalled performances. None of Reiner's successors as a Strauss conductor, neither Solti himself, Kempe nor Sawallisch, seems quite to achieve the clarity of texture, mastery of line and intensity of feeling displayed in these recordings of 35 years and more ago, nor has any orchestra, certainly not the CSO of Solti's day, evinced the richness and brilliance of sound found here. Above all, Reiner brought to these scores, especially Elektra, a classic grandeur of utterance, a saturated sound that overwhelms the ear without ever deafening it. Perhaps these impressions are enhanced by the superb recording, preferable to so much that passes for good sound today. The fidelity, even balance and deep sonority of this early stereo in Chicago is truly amazing. Just as arresting is the perfect placing of the voices in relation to the orchestra."

-- A.B., Gramophone [5/1993]

Also sprach Zarathustra
"Reiner's 1954 Also sprach is arguably more characteristic than his 1962 RCA remake. That is to say, it is even more intense and extrovert. In his second year with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the conductor was already getting a thrilling response from the strings, although woodwind intonation could be a problem. Confident and well played as it is, the spectacular opening sunrise inevitably lacks the impact of, say, Preyin's Telarc recording (the organ is particularly disappointing). Nor is there the dark solemnity of and detail in the bass familiar from Karajan's DO versions. What we have instead is a measure of raw passion and forward thrust unequalled on disc. In reflective passages, conductor and/or engineers display some reluctance to achieve a real pianissimo, but as the tempo builds Reiner invariably creates great excitement and the orchestral playing is marvellous."

-- David Gutman, Gramophone [12/1992]

Don Quixote, Burleske
Throughout his career Fritz Reiner showed a particular affinity for the music of Richard Strauss. Here he delivers an exceptionally vivid account of Don Quixote – each bizarre episode from the eccentric knight’s adventures is portrayed with razor-sharp insight. One notices, in particular, Reiner’s miraculous attention to detail, his unfailing grip on the structural direction of the work and the superb response from both soloist and orchestra. With its flashes of sardonic wit, the earlier Burleske makes for an excellent coupling, and illustrates Reiner’s formidable prowess as a concerto accompanist. By any standards, a self-recommending issue.

-- Erik Levi, BBC Music Magazine

Richard Strauss, Sergei Rachmaninov: Cello Works

Works For Cello And Piano

The collaboration between Armenian violinist Nikolai Madojan and Danish pianist Elisabeth Westenholz produced a series of outstanding CDs starting with the Prokofiev Sonatas and Five Melodies (32185) in 1994. The Madojan/Westenholz duo has since been performing and recording to critical and popular acclaim. The world’s press wrote of their performances: “…Madojan…has a natural feel for the right inflexion…his is the more thought-provoking…Westenholz refreshingly tender-hearted and imaginative.” (Gramophone) “…Madojan is superb in capturing the expressive, genteel nature of the music. …His intonation is superb as well as timbre, and carefully balanced with the partnership of Westenholz.” (Intune) “…Madojan and Westenholz are a strong, articulate, well-proportioned and mutually reciprocal partnership.” (Gramophone)

Vier Letzte Lieder, Wesendonck

STRAUSS: EIN HELDENLEBEN, DON

SINFONIA DOMESTICA

Bruno Walter was getting on in years when he made this classic recording of Barber's First Symphony, but it's the kind of piece that played to Walter's strengths--Romantic but with strongly Classical leanings--and it makes a curiously apt coupling to the two Strauss tone poems. Like the composer's own performances, Walter's are swift and light, which works wonderfully well in Don Juan, a bit less so in Death and Transfiguration, which could use more sheer intensity at the climaxes. Throughout, the playing is lively and comfortably at home in the music. The Dvorák encore is nice to have, but hardly necessary, and it's sonically inferior to the otherwise perfectly fine mono engineering in evidence elsewhere. Now available "on demand" from Arkivmusic.com, this is a disc of genuine historical significance for both Strauss and Barber collectors.

--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

This 2CD collection of more than 200 selections taken from various song recitals given 1956-2010 is released in celebration of the 150th birthday of Richard Strauss. + No less than 18 exceptional Strauss singers perform here, listed below in the order they are heard in this edition: Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Lisa Della Casa, Irmgard Seefried, Nicolai Gedda, Christa Ludwig, Hermann Prey, Leontyne Price, Peter Schreier, Edita Gruberova, Jessye Norman, Edith Mathis, Marjana Lipovšek, Heinz Zednik, Frederica von Stade, Francisco Araiza, Thomas Hampson, Diana Damrau and Michael Volle. + The songs range from famous early songs such as Die Nacht and Zueignung via excerpts from the rarely heard Krämerspiegel to late settings of poems by Friedrich Rückert.

T he Strauss family was one of music's greatest dynasties. In this glittering disc, we hear such classics as the Radetzky March of Johann Strauss I, and his son, Johann Strauss II's overture to Der Zigeunerbaron (The Gypsy Baron), one of the enduring masterpieces of the Viennese concert repertoire. The irresistibly exciting Unter Donner und Blitz (Thunder and Lightning) offers thunderous delight, whilst Ander schenen blauen Donau (On the Beautiful Blue Danube) is one of the most unforgettable melodies ever written. Strauss the Elder's second son, Josef, was an outstanding composer in his own right, as demonstrated by the frenzy of excitement that is the Jokey-Polka (Jockey-Polka). After positions as Chief Conductor of Prague State Opera and First Permanent Conductor of Leipzig Opera, Johannes Wildner was the General Music Director of the New Philharmonic Orchestra of Westphalia (Germany) for ten years from 1997. His years of experience as a member of the Vienna Philharmonic and the Vienna State Opera Orchestra have given his conducting a distinctive stamp.

Autobiographical in content, Richard Strauss's Ein Heldenleben is one of a series of tone-poems, including, Also Sprach Zarathustra (Naxos 8.571215), in which he explored the utmost limits of extra-musical content in this form. The hero passes through love and adversity, confrontation, triumph in battle and fulfilment in a single, powerfully descriptive symphonic span. Gerard Schwarz's Ein Heldenleben has been acclaimed as "exciting and inspired" (Gramophone). The opera Capriccio is a romantic struggle to choose between words and music which opens with a gloriously bitter-sweet string sextet.

A radically systematic logic stunningly manifested itself quite early in the music of Richard Strauss. He avoided the instrumental genres, was attracted to the tone poem right from the very start, and worked toward the goal of making the opera his central focus. And yet his beginnings lay in chamber music, a fact demonstrated on this release with two examples in new recordings. The Piano Trio No. 2 is lengthier than its predecessor and very ambitious both in its tonal register and execution. The formal norms – sonata form, song form, scherzo, and then another sonata movement – are upheld with completeness and elegance. The piano trio had a long line of tradition going back to Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, but the composer who set standards in the middle of the nineteenth century is particularly clearly recognizable here in a model function: Mendelssohn. Only about seven years passed between this trio and Strauss’s only Piano Quartet, but in 1885 too he was still a very young composer. The quartet displays impressive advances in technique; now Strauss apparently could draw on all the compositional resources then available, and the higher virtuosic demands on the instrumentalists are also quite evident. Strauss attracted the greatest attention with his large-format op. 13 lasting almost forty minutes, a work that even brought him a prize from the Berliner Tonkünstlerverein.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Strauss: Don Quixote

Der Rosenkavalier is one of Strauss’ best known operas. Set in Vienna during the early years of the Empress Maria Theresa’s reign, the work takes the form of a comedy in 3 acts, set to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It bears a strong resemblance in terms of plot to Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro and is written in a different vein to Strauss’s preceding avant-gardist creations, something the composer, appearing to have succumbed to popular taste, was heavily criticized for.

LEGENDARY STRAUSS RECORDINGS

Releases like this show why Arkivmusic.com's "on demand" program is so important to collectors. These aren't Strauss' greatest works, but they are comparative rarities on disc. Serious Strauss collectors will want them to fill the gaps in their collections. The performances are very beautiful, brilliantly played, and excellently paced. Mehta always has been an excellent Straussian, and in 1990 was in top form. There never would be a big market for this release, even by classical music standards, but that doesn't mean that the music should not be available to those who love Strauss' orchestral works, or little-known Romantic gems. So here it is; come and get it!

--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Vintage supercharged Bernstein with the New York PO on starry form. Just on the right side of self-indulgence, this is a compelling old-world view of Strauss – heroic, intimate and headily nostalgic. The pacing, climaxing and longueurs of Don Quixote (one of the best versions around), the seductive rhythms of the Dance of the Seven Veils, and the public splendour of the Festival Prelude all make for a stunning sonic experience. Demonstration remastered ‘high definition sound’ once you get used to the slightly forward separation of solo cello and viola in Don Quixote.
Performance: 5 (out of 5); Sound: 5 (out of 5)

-- Ates Orga, BBC Music Magazine

LS had almost unqualified praise for the live 1953 Carnegie Hall recording of Don Quixote. "Nothing," he wrote "more clearly demonstrates Toscanini's true quality than the fact that it is possible to take one of his ordinary (one cannot use the word 'routine', for obvious reasons) broadcast performances and issue it in permanent form on record to complete satisfaction". He noted a momentary slip in the first variation; equally, one might like the two concluding chords of the work to have been re-made. But what a tour de force this is of orchestral wizardry and musical characterization in one of the repertory's most difficult works. What's more, Toscanini honours Strauss's original plan by having the orchestra's own front-desk cellist and viola player as the soloists. (Only a week later Carbon Cooley would distinguish himself as viola soloist in Toscanini's broadcast from Carnegie Hall of Berlioz's Harold in Italy—RCA 0 RD85755, 2/88.) I think it is reasonable to prefer this performance musically and sonically to Toscanini's 1938 NBC recording (Toscanini Society—nla) and to Strauss's own version with Mainardi recently reissued by DG (11/90), where the playing of the Staatskapelle Berlin is frankly not in the same league as that of the NBC musicians.

-- Gramophone [1/1991]

...Another later release, the 1962 Zarathustra, suggests greater spaciousness and dignity than its predecessor [Reiner's 1954 Zarathustra] due partly to the freed-up string sound, partly to Reiner’s broader tempi. On the same disc, he argues his own gaudy arrangement of the Rosenkavalier waltzes with tremendous panache and Byron Janis glitters with Lisztian transcendentalism in the Burleske.

-- David Nice, BBC Music Magazine
reviewing these performances previously reissued as part of RCA 68635

This recording was originally released in 1954.

"Berglund proves himself a thorough-going Straussian with his whiplash interpretation of Don Juan, one of the best of the many recent versions. . . . The performance of Till is splendidly lively, with crisp woodwind playing. . . . There have been several good performances of the Burleske in recent years and this one by the young Russian pianist Sergei Edelmann is dazzling in its virtuosity and high spirits. . . . An attractive disc." -- Gramophone