Strauss: An Alpine Symphony, 4 Songs / Jarvi, Lott
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Considering that it was for long the least-played and most poorly regarded of the tone-poems, Eine Alpensinfonie is now well represented on record and to...
Considering that it was for long the least-played and most poorly regarded of the tone-poems, Eine Alpensinfonie is now well represented on record and to regard it as a masterpiece is no longer to brand oneself as an eccentric. I was, and still am, very impressed by Haitink's recording on Philips which I described last year as the finest interpretation I had heard. I stand by that opinion, but Järvi put me to the test. Both conductors reach beyond the illustrative features of the work to its pantheism and its origins as a work about the 'Antichrist', whereas Solti (Decca) seems concerned only with the pictorial elements.
Although there is only about ten seconds' difference between their timings, Järvi is more expansive than Haitink in the last sections of the symphony, from the calm before the storm to the end. The crux of Haitink's interpretation is the mysticism he imparts to the Vision episode. On the whole, the Philips is a clearer, brighter recording—in this respect compare the Concertgebouw oboe and cor anglais in "Elegie" with the SNO's. And I suppose that taken as a whole, the Dutch orchestra is superior, but not by much. There is beautiful SNO string-playing in the "Entry into the Wood" and atmospheric and evocative playing of the "Alm" and "Summit" sections, with the brass in the latter really magnificent.
The addition of the four songs, and in such enchanting performances, gives the Chandos disc an advantage over its rivals. Felicity Lott's fresh and lustrous singing of Morgen! is one more manifestation of the miracle of this song, which seems to draw something individual from all its finest performers. That ability to convey true Straussian rapture which is the hallmark of Lott's singing is particularly evident in Freundliche Vision, and she is delightful in the lullaby Meinem Kinde and in the blithe Das Bächlein, which Strauss dedicated to Goebbeis with the best of misguided motives back in 1933.
-- Gramophone [12/1987]
Although there is only about ten seconds' difference between their timings, Järvi is more expansive than Haitink in the last sections of the symphony, from the calm before the storm to the end. The crux of Haitink's interpretation is the mysticism he imparts to the Vision episode. On the whole, the Philips is a clearer, brighter recording—in this respect compare the Concertgebouw oboe and cor anglais in "Elegie" with the SNO's. And I suppose that taken as a whole, the Dutch orchestra is superior, but not by much. There is beautiful SNO string-playing in the "Entry into the Wood" and atmospheric and evocative playing of the "Alm" and "Summit" sections, with the brass in the latter really magnificent.
The addition of the four songs, and in such enchanting performances, gives the Chandos disc an advantage over its rivals. Felicity Lott's fresh and lustrous singing of Morgen! is one more manifestation of the miracle of this song, which seems to draw something individual from all its finest performers. That ability to convey true Straussian rapture which is the hallmark of Lott's singing is particularly evident in Freundliche Vision, and she is delightful in the lullaby Meinem Kinde and in the blithe Das Bächlein, which Strauss dedicated to Goebbeis with the best of misguided motives back in 1933.
-- Gramophone [12/1987]
Product Description:
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Release Date: February 27, 2008
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UPC: 5014682855723
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Catalog Number: CHAN 8557
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Label: Chandos
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Number of Discs: 1
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Composer: Richard, Strauss
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Orchestra/Ensemble: Scottish National Orchestra
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Performer: Felicity, Neeme, Lott, Järvi