Death & Transfiguration

On this CD:

1. Don Juan, tone poem for orchestra, Op. 20
Composed by Richard Strauss

Conducted by Thomas Sanderling

2. Macbeth, tone poem for orchestra, Op. 23
Composed by Richard Strauss

Conducted by Thomas Sanderling

3. Tod und Verklärung (Death and Transfiguration), tone poem for orchestra, Op. 24
Composed by Richard Strauss

Conducted by Thomas Sanderling

Tracks:

Horn Concerto No. 1 In E Flat Major, Op. 11: I: Allegro
Horn Concerto No. 1 In E Flat Major, Op. 11: II: Andante
Horn Concerto No. 1 In E Flat Major, Op. 11: III: Allegro
Horn Concerto No. 2 In E Flat Major: I: Allegro
Horn Concerto No. 2 In E Flat Major: II: Andante con moto
Horn Concerto No. 2 In E Flat Major: III: Rondo (Allegro molto)
Oboe Concerto In D Major: I: Allegro moderato
Oboe Concerto In D Major: II: Andante
Oboe Concerto In D Major: III: Vivace
Duett-Concertino: I; Allegro moderato
Duett-Concertino: II: Andante
Duett-Concertino: III: Rondo (Allegro ma non troppo)

Tracks:

Burleske
Parergon zur Sinfonia Domestica, Op. 73
Panathenaenzug, Op. 74

Tracks:

Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche, Op. 28
Don Juan, Op. 20
Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40: The Hero
Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40: The Hero's Adversaries
Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40: The Hero's Wife
Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40: Certainty Of Victory
Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40: The Hero's Battlefield
Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40: War Fanfares
Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40: The Hero's Work Of Peace
Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40: The Hero's Withdrawl From The World
Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40: Renunciation

Tracks:

Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 8: I: Allegro
Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 8: II: Lento
Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 8: III: Rondo
Sinfonia Domestica, Op. 53: Bewegt - Thema I - Thema II - Thema III
Sinfonia Domestica, Op. 53: Scherzo (Munter)
Sinfonia Domestica, Op. 53: Wiegenlied - Massig langsam
Sinfonia Domestica, Op. 53: Adagio - (Langsam)
Sinfonia Domestica, Op. 53: Finale (Sehr lebhaft)

Tracks:

Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30
Tod und Verklarung, Op. 24
Der Rosenkavalier, Op. 59

Tracks:

Salome, Op. 54: Dance Of The Seven Veils
Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme - Suite, Op. 60: Overture
Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme - Suite, Op. 60: Jourdain - Minuet
Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme - Suite, Op. 60: The Fencing Master
Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme - Suite, Op. 60: Entrance and Dance of the Tailors
Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme - Suite, Op. 60: Minuet of Lully
Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme - Suite, Op. 60: Courante
Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme - Suite, Op. 60: Entry Of Cleonte
Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme - Suite, Op. 60: Intermezzo (Prelude To Act 2)
Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme - Suite, Op. 60: The Dinner
Schlagobers, Op. 70: Waltz
Josephslegende, Op. 63: Symphonic Fragment

Tracks:

Metamorphosen: Study For 23 Solo Strings
Eine Alpensinfonie, Op. 64: Night
Eine Alpensinfonie, Op. 64: Sunrise
Eine Alpensinfonie, Op. 64: The Ascent
Eine Alpensinfonie, Op. 64: Entering The Forest
Eine Alpensinfonie, Op. 64: Strolling By The Stream
Eine Alpensinfonie, Op. 64: By The Waterfall
Eine Alpensinfonie, Op. 64: Apparition
Eine Alpensinfonie, Op. 64: In Flowery Meadows
Eine Alpensinfonie, Op. 64: In A Mountain Pasture
Eine Alpensinfonie, Op. 64: Lost In The Thickets And Undergrowth
Eine Alpensinfonie, Op. 64: On The Glacier
Eine Alpensinfonie, Op. 64: Dangerous Moments
Eine Alpensinfonie, Op. 64: On The Summit
Eine Alpensinfonie, Op. 64: Vision
Eine Alpensinfonie, Op. 64: Mists Rise Up
Eine Alpensinfonie, Op. 64: The Sun Grows Dark
Eine Alpensinfonie, Op. 64: Elegy
Eine Alpensinfonie, Op. 64: Quiet Before The Storm
Eine Alpensinfonie, Op. 64: A Thunderstorm - Descent
Eine Alpensinfonie, Op. 64: Sunset
Eine Alpensinfonie, Op. 64: Conclusion
Eine Alpensinfonie, Op. 64: Night

Tracks:

Aus Italien, Op.16: I: Andante
Aus Italien, Op.16: II: Allegro molto con brio
Aus Italien, Op.16: III: Andantino
Aus Italien, Op.16: IV: Finale (Allegro molto)
Macbeth, Op. 23: Symphonic Poem

Tracks:

Don Quixote, Op. 35: Introduktion (Massiges Zeitmass)
Don Quixote, Op. 35: Massig (Don Quixote)
Don Quixote, Op. 35: Maggiore (Sancho Panza)
Don Quixote, Op. 35: Variation I: The adventure with the windmills
Don Quixote, Op. 35: Variation II: The battle with the sheep
Don Quixote, Op. 35: Variation III: Discourse between knight and squire
Don Quixote, Op. 35: Variation IV: The adventure with the pilgrims
Don Quixote, Op. 35: Variation V: The knight's vigil
Don Quixote, Op. 35: Variation VI: The meeting with Dulcinea
Don Quixote, Op. 35: Variation VII: The ride through the air
Don Quixote, Op. 35: Variation VIII: The voyage in the enchanted boat
Don Quixote, Op. 35: Variation IX: The combat with the two magicians
Don Quixote, Op. 35: Variation X: The defeat of Don Quixote
Don Quixote, Op. 35: Finale (Sehr ruhig)
Dance Suite from harpsichord pieces by Francois Couperin: I: Entree and stately round
Dance Suite from harpsichord pieces by Francois Couperin: II: Courante
Dance Suite from harpsichord pieces by Francois Couperin: III: Carillon
Dance Suite from harpsichord pieces by Francois Couperin: IV: Sarabande
Dance Suite from harpsichord pieces by Francois Couperin: V: Gavotte
Dance Suite from harpsichord pieces by Francois Couperin: VI: Tourbillon - Wirbeltanz
Dance Suite from harpsichord pieces by Francois Couperin: VIII: Allemande
Dance Suite from harpsichord pieces by Francois Couperin: VIII: March

Amazon.com essential recording

When it comes to the music of Richard Strauss, none of the world's great orchestras has a more distinguished tradition than the Staatskapelle Dresden. As pit orchestra of the Dresden Court Opera, the Staatskapelle was involved in the premieres, between 1901 and 1911, of Feuersnot, Salome, Elektra, and Der Rosenkavalier; later, with Karl Böhm conducting, its players participated in the premiere of Daphne. Most of Strauss's major tone poems have been in the Dresden orchestra's concert repertory since completion.

Back in the 1970s, EMI was able to capitalize on this association when it reunited the Staatskapelle with Rudolf Kempe--a native of Dresden, one of the master conductors of the 20th century, and an absolutely authoritative Straussian--for an integral recording of Strauss's orchestral works and concertos. The cycle was warmly received when it was originally released on LP, and it has become one of the treasures of the CD catalog since EMI reissued it whole, in three volumes, in 1992. With this latest repackaging, the whole impressive enterprise becomes available in one box.

Across the board, Kempe and the Dresdeners give magnificent readings of the music. Their Zarathustra is imposing and grand; their Heldenleben suitably heroic and quite smashingly played; their Till Eulenspiegel and Don Juan delightfully brisk, characterful, and exultant (the latter is dispatched in a blazing 16:06, and receives as ardent and exhilarating a reading as you are ever likely to encounter on disc). One of the finest of all the offerings is the account of Eine Alpensinfonie, a Kempe favorite and still a sonic knockout after nearly three decades.

The less familiar orchestral works are here, as well, including the early tone poems Aus Italien and Macbeth and the admittedly rather frothy ballet scores Josephslegende and Schlagobers. Of special value are the accounts of all Strauss's concerted works, from the early Violin Concerto (played by Ulf Hoelscher) and Burleske for piano and orchestra (with Malcolm Frager as soloist), through Don Quixote (featuring Paul Tortelier in magisterial form) and the two horn concertos, to the Oboe Concerto of 1946 and the final Duett-Concertino for clarinet and bassoon.

It's hard to imagine any label tackling such a project in today's bottom-line environment, or coming up with such definitive readings from today's performers. All the more reason to celebrate the appearance of this compendium. --Ted Libbey

Customer Reviews:

Outstanding performances.......2007-05-13

Rudolf Kempe's interpretations of Richard Strauss orchestral works (almost complete - one miss the orchestral songs) have been classic recordings since they first appeared on record in the early seventies (1970-75).

Especially fine are his interpretations of the core works, e.g., the symphonic poems Also sprach Zarathustra, Ein Heldenleben, Eine Alpensinfonie, Tod und Verklärung, Don Juan, Till Eulenspiegel, Don Quixote. All these are given first rate interpretations.

Furthermore, you get outstanding interpretations of Strauss' two horn concertos as well, with Peter Damm's superb horn playing, and an outstanding performance of Metamorphosen.

There is simply no rival to this collection of "core works of Richard Strauss".

In addition, this box collects also Strauss less interesting orchestral works - see Amazon's listing above. These minor works receive fine interpretations and performances too, but the main attraction is of course the core works above.

Sound quality is very fine - just excellent analogue stereo - and the orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, was one of the top orchestras in the world when these sessions were put on record.

Warmly recommended!

Reviving a Lost Love.......2006-08-07

The highest praise for any conductor must be that he rekindles enthusiasm and love for music that had been recently abandoned. In his autobiography, the conductor Felix Weingartner confesses that he had grown out of touch with Strauss' music; until hearing this set, I had felt the same, with only a few exceptions. But Rudolf Kempe and his really great Staatskapelle Dresden have won me back to Richard's orchestral music. So far, I have only heard part of the set: Zarathustra, Heldenleben, Till, Tod und Verklaerung, Der Buerger als Edelmann, Don Juan, Burleske, and Sinfonia Domestica, but my appetite is whet for more. Because of the refined, subtle, and yet intense conducting of Kempe, what used to strike me as cheap and taudry now strikes me as profound and moving. And the sheer musical skill of Strauss in thematic invention and counterpoint never ceases to amaze. Kempe was truly, in my not so humble opinion, the greatest conductor of the German classics following Furtwaengler; Karajan was empty and shallow by comparison. Kempe brings to this music the same passion and dignity that he brought to Beethoven, Brahms, Wagner, Schumann, and other of "his" composers. To make just one comparison, Reiner's Zarathustra, once hallowed by me as by most listeners, now sounds like overripe, rotting fruit as compared to the passionate yet thoughtful quality that Kempe brings to it. The Staatskapelle Dresden, by the way, sounds like the greatest orchestra in the world, only matched by the Berlin Philharmonic under Kempe or Furtwaengler, an orchestra that produces incidentally beautiful sounds but whose main goal is the projection and characterization of the music. No virtuosity for its own sake, just musicianship, musicianship, and more musicianship. EMI's sound is the very epitome of how to record an orchestra: Impactful, yet smooth and detailed, with natural perspectives and no spotlighting. This set belongs in every music lover's library.

Not for beginners..........2006-07-16

Most boxed sets have their ups and downs because no conductor is equally sympathetic to all of a composer's works. Kempe is no exception to this rule.

The masterpieces, Zarathustra, Heldenleben, and Quixote, are superb here. Kempe clarifies Strauss' complex textures in a way that other conductors like Karajan don't. Most of the time, I prefer to hear these works Karajan's way, but it's nice to hear what Kempe does with them, too. No one does Sinfonia Domestica the way Kempe does it...with such gentleness and humor. I listened to Reiner's recording for years, but I put it up for sale on amazon after I heard the Kempe. With all four of these large tone poems, Kempe and Karajan are all I really need.

The Don Juan is just about the best I've ever heard. It is so vital and exciting! Better than Karajan or any other I know. It is hard to imagine that Macbeth will ever be done better than this either. Macbeth is one of the reasons I own this set, but it's hardly one of Strauss' masterpieces. Speaking of non-masterpieces, I also treasure Kempe's recordings of Strauss' strange works for piano and orchestra. The Burleske has more poetry but less excitement than the classic Byron Janis/Reiner recording.

Kempe's recordings of the Horn Concertos are truly awful. Listen to the weak, watery tones of the first-chair horn player stepping into the solo spotlight. One listen to the mono recordings of Dennis Brain conducted by Sawallisch shows what is missing: bold, ringing tone and lots of excitement. If I only knew Kempe's recordings, I wouldn't even care about these pieces.

The bad news continues with the Oboe Concerto (weak oboist) and the charming Duet Concertino (weak bassoon).

Kempe misses the raucous fun that charges the best recordings of Till Eulenspiegel. This is a limp dishrag of a performance (until the last few minutes). At the very start of the performance, you will hear a familiar sound -- our weak horn player from the concertos playing a solo -- and you will long to stop the CD and reach for a different recording.

Metamorphosen is one of my favorite pieces by Strauss. Kempe, as is his wont, tries mightily to clarify Strauss' dense counterpoint here, and I appreciate the effort. I hear things here that I miss in other recordings. But this reading does not move me the way others have. Ormandy, to name just one. Death and Transfiguration is another one that Ormandy did better. Kempe is too fast at times! Really fast!

My greatest disappointment with this set is a recording that has been acclaimed by many as one of the greatest Strauss recordings ever made...Kempe's take on Eine Alpensinfonie. I have lived for many years with the Karajan recording, and I must say that Kempe misses many of the moments that I have come to treasure in Karajan's version. One example would be those 20 horns playing! Karajan makes this absolutely thrilling, which I'm sure is what Strauss intended. With Kempe, this telling touch by Strauss passes by unremarkably. The slow, quiet passage at the summit lacks magic. The apotheosis at the top of the mountain is certainly thrilling in Kempe's hands, but he misses too much on the way up. By the way, his cowbells sound almost comically bad. He certainly does bring out the beauty of the closing sections of the work, though.

If you are really serious about getting to know Strauss' music, this is a necessary purchase for the rarities that will probably never be done better like the Violin Concerto and the pieces I've already mentioned. If you just want Strauss' most famous works, this is a waste of your money (no matter how cheap it is!)because there's a lot of stuff here that either isn't very good or that you probably won't want to listen to that often. You would be better off buying Karajan's recordings (the 1970s recordings, not the remakes from the 80s) of the big three tone poems and then filling in the smaller ones as your interests dictate. Casual listeners will never need to hear pieces like Macbeth or the piano works that make this set so vital to Strauss-aholics like me!

One of the very best of all EMI sets! The 2nd coming for all Straussians!.......2006-02-10

The great Strauss tone poems soar to the highest level imaginable! With Kempe's genius, the lesser works become great! Kempe resists all temptation to be banal or bombastic. He directs the Staatskappele Dresden with a silken, burnished tone yet with restraint that has a radiant glow that never sacrifices the inherent capacity of the music to thrill, deeply move, or elevate to another plain. Each work played is in itself the guide: conductor and orchestra let the works deliver their own brilliance. The Don Juan and Dead and Transfiguration are soul piercing, along with Ein Heldenleben, and....... The Staatskapelle Dresden has always been an inspired ensemble and in Kempe's hands they are simply put, magnificent, delivering one thrilling performance after another. Like Wagner and Faith, you get Strauss or you don't. If you do get it, this set is beyond self recommendation; Buy this set before it disappears from the shelves. Classical Cd shelves these days have hidden boomerangs. One minute here, next minute.....boing going gone)...! The concert hall may never hear greater performances of Strauss' orchestral works as we hear on these nine disks. The sound is nothing short of a rich, full timber as Kempe leads then with inspired and interpretive genius . This all may sound over the edge but I don't think so and I don't think you will be disappointed. Strauss has been served in splendor by the Dresden musicians under Kempe's baton. [Although in an aside I must say that Raphael Fruhbeck de Burgos and the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra's performance this past summer of Don Juan and the Rosenkavalier suite were superb.] Then I think of the BSO with Levine...., their Strauss should be something else. Bravo and kudos to all for bringing us this gift. Booklet is very well done with one exception. There is not a word in the booklet about Rudolf Kempe and/or the orchestra itself. 10 stars anyway!!

terrible, awful, hideous, lousy.......2005-04-22

The problem with the "classics" is that too many hacks have hacked them to pieces. My opinion of these recordings, for whatever it is worth, is that they simply do not do justice to Strauss's magnificent music.

There is a reason they are a "bargain". I would avoid this set.
Sometimes a boxed set is a good deal, but this one is not. I find the entire set unspeakably dull and literally unlistenable.

In any event, this is merely my opinion. The majority of the other reviewers think its terrific.

Lorin Maazel - Richard Strauss / Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra

Average customer rating:

Kempe Vs. Maazel is closer than one would think
Very Good But Not Great Richard Strauss from Maazel
boring and over rated
Overall, the recordings well worth it!

Lorin Maazel - Richard Strauss / Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
Richard Strauss , Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra , and Lorin Maazel
Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00000IYO1
Release Date: 1999-05-18

Tracks:

Sinfonia Domestica - Thema I (Bewegt)
Sinfonia Domestica - Thema II (Sehr lebhaft)
Sinfonia Domestica - Thema III (Ruhig)
Sinfonia Domestica - Scherzo (Munter)
Sinfonia Domestica - Massig langsam (Wiegenlied)
Sinfonia Domestica - Adagio (Langsam)
Sinfonia Domestica - Finale (Sehr lebhaft)
Tod und Verklarung (Death and Transfiguration)
Thus Spake Zarathustra, Op.30: Night Wanderer's Song
Rosenkavalier Ste, Op.59
Don Juan, Op.20

Tracks:

Also sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spake Zarathustra) - Einleitung (Introduction)
Zarathustra - Von den Hinterweltlern (Of the People of the Unseen World)
Zarathustra - Von der grossen Sehnsucht (Of the Great Longing)
Zarathustra - Von den Freuden und Leidenschaften (Of Joys and Passions)
Zarathustra - Das Grablied (Dirge)
Zarathustra - Von der Wissenschaft (Of Science)
Zarathustra - Der Genesende (The Convalescent)
Zarathustra - Das Tanzlied (Dance Song)
Zarathustra - Das Nachtwandlerlied (Night Wanderer's Song)
Rosenkavalier Suite
Don Juan

Tracks:

Till Eulenspiegels lustige Steiche (Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks)
Ein Heldenleben (A Hero's Life) - Der Held (The Hero)
Heldenleben - Des Helden Widersacher (The Hero's Adversary)
Heldenleben - Des Helden Gefahrtin (The Hero's Companion)
Heldenleben - Des Helden Walstatt (The Hero's Battlefield)
Heldenleben - Des Helden Friedenswerke (The Hero's Works of Peace)
Heldenleben - Des Helden Weltflucht und Vollendung (The Hero's Flight from Reality and Fulfillment)

Tracks:

Eine Alpensinfonie (An Alpine Symphony) - Nacht (Night)
Alpensinfonie - Sonnenaufgang (Sunrise)
Alpensinfonie - Der Anstieg (Ascent)
Alpensinfonie - Eintritt in den Wald (Entrance into the Forest)
Alpensinfonie - Wanderung neben dem Bache (Walking by the Brook)
Alpensinfonie - Am Wasserfall (At the Waterfall)
Alpensinfonie - Erscheinung (Vision)
Alpensinfonie - Auf blumige Wiesen (To flowery Meadows)
Alpensinfonie - Auf der Alm (At the Alpine Meadow)
Alpensinfonie - Durch Dickicht und Gestrupp auf Irrwegen (Wandering through Thicket and Undergrowth)
Alpensinfonie - Auf dem Gletscher - On the Glacier
Alpensinfonie - Gefahrvolle Augenblicke (Dangerous Moments)
Alpensinfonie - Auf dem Gipfel (At the Summit)
Alpensinfonie - Vision
Alpensinfonie - Nebel steigen auf (Rising Mist)
Alpensinfonie - Die Sonne (The Sun)
Alpensinfonie - Elegie (Elegy)
Alpensinfonie - Stille vor dem Sturm (Calm before the Storm)
Alpensinfonie - Gewitter und Sturm, Abstieg (Thunderstorm, Descent)
Alpensinfonie - Sonnenuntergang (Sunset)
Alpensinfonie - Ausklang (Conclusion)
Alpensinfonie - Nacht (Night)
Macbeth - Allegro, un poco maestoso; Presto
Macbeth - Moderato maestoso
Macbeth - Allegro, un poco maestoso

Amazon.com

Richard Strauss's gift for evocative musical description was uncanny, to the point where it was joked he could set even a grocery list or a pint of beer to music. In fact, his various tone poems--the form with which he first gained fame as a composer--actually develop an orchestral vocabulary to depict topics ranging from Nietzsche's Superman to a fierce storm on the Alps and a day in the life of a nuclear family. This set gathers Lorin Maazel's interpretations from the last few years (with perhaps the greatest tone poem of the whole canon, Don Quixote, still to come in a planned future recording). Maazel--currently music director of the Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio, an ensemble of high-powered soloists modeled on Toscanini's famous NBC orchestra--is returning to some of these works for his third take, and his vision seems to have clarified in particular for the vistas of Ein Heldenleben and the Alpine Symphony as for the idealistic poetry of Death and Transfiguration and Don Juan.

While these accounts don't achieve the degree of narrative thrust of Kempe's indispensable versions or the astonishing ensemble opulence of Karajan's Strauss, Maazel highlights his orchestra's solo prowess at every possible moment, and textures are often given a marvelous clarity. The feeling such technical perfection imparts can be distant, as in what should be the most fevered passages of Zarathustra. But Maazel brings a loving touch to the much-dismissed Domestic Symphony as well as conviction to the early Macbeth. And the orchestra's wizardry--particularly the winds--gives much pleasure, especially in the deftly humored account here of Till Eulenspiegel. Both Zarathustra and the Sinfonia Domestica are still available as single-CD issues, as well. --Thomas May

Customer Reviews:

Kempe Vs. Maazel is closer than one would think.......2005-10-02

There are two competing sets at mid-to-budget price of the major orchestral works of Richard Strauss, this RCA set and the much more complete one from Kempe on EMI. Although the Kempe has been a darling of critics for decades, he wasn't in truth a major interpreter of these works, just a solid, unintrusive Kapellmeister type. None of his readings, with the possible exception of Don Quixote with Paul Tortelier as collo soloist, would rank as a first choce, but none are eccentric, either. Kempe's specialty was to find delicacy and refinement in works that often come off blantantly.

With Maazel we have a very intrusive interpreter who is ocnstantly fiddling with the details of Strauss's writing and who is apt at any moment to deliver a little shock by turning a phrase unexpectedly. At first I found this intrusiveness irritating, but Maazel is quite a technician. There is no doubt that he has ideas, agree with them or not. His Bavarian forces sound to me about as virtuosic as the Dresden Staatskepelle for Kempe. Maazel's set is in much better sound than Kempe's, demonstration quality, in fact. That counts for a lot in these splashy works. If only Maazel had given his musicians free rein to go over the top in climaxes, but the orgiastic isn't his style; being in total control is.

In the end, as the owner of both sets, I find about equl rewards in them, even though critics greatly favor the Kempe, a choice that doesn't seem completely valid to me unless you happen to want all the esoterica of Strauss's output.

Very Good But Not Great Richard Strauss from Maazel.......2002-12-28

Perhaps I'm a bit jaded, having heard exceptional accounts of some of Strauss's tone poems from the likes of Karajan and Sawallisch, but Maazel's Strauss tone poem cycle is simply a very well recorded, brilliantly performed set that offers few new insightful thoughts into either Strauss's musical intentions or Maazel's. Maazel does a great job emphasizing the rich orchestral textures of Strauss's scores, but rarely is it played with much conviction and warmth; notable exceptions include brilliant performances of Ein Alpensinfonie - although among the best, I still prefer Solti's glistening account with the Bavarian Radio Symphony - and Macbeth. However, fans of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra will not be disappointed by their exquisite playing that is just as splendid as their peers in Berlin and Vienna. Yet if you are interested in profound, riveting accounts of Strauss's scores, I recommend listening to recordings by Previn and the Vienna Philharmonic, and Blomstedt and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, as well as those from Sawallisch and Karajan.

boring and over rated.......2000-05-11

I am a Lorin Maazel fan. I had no idea, however, that his R. Strauss tempi and balances were so boring. I was completely let down by these recordings. the only bonus was the recording technology they chose to employ, but overall, it was a total waist of time and money.

Overall, the recordings well worth it!.......1999-12-17

Lorin Maazel is not a neurotic conductor (nor was Richard Strauss the composer). Strauss had a tremendous gift of imaginative invention, vividness, and portrayal of the subjects and the heroes behind his symphonic poems. There's no doubt that Strauss took the ideas of Franz Liszt (the father of symphonic poems) and developed the genre further.

Lorin Maazel and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra managed to achieve the balance in their performances and they sound as if they played the works out of admiration rather than anything else. Vividness, excitement, and commitment are all present in these recordings, especially of Eine Alpinesinfonie.

However, Strauss, though not a neurotic, was a composer of drama. Therefore, performances with drama will tend bring out more effectively the vividness, imaginative, and the descriptive ever so characteristic aspects of Strauss symphonic poems (and his operas). Maazel and the Bavarian were able to bring out those aspects of Strauss' works to some effectiveness. Their main drawback included too much emphasis on balance and not much on daringness. The climax of Death and Transfiguration, for example lacks the element of surprise Rudolf Kempe or Herbert von Karajan were able to portray. It is as if Maazel's performance with the Bavarian, though distinguished, conscientously tried to ignore the ruggedness so much a part of Strauss' tone poems (such as Ein Heldenlaben). Forget the meticulousness for a while, just tell us the story that will keep us awake and excited.

This set (or separate CDs previously issued) is recommendable. But if you're the one that needs to feel compelled and/or pumped up, go for the recordings of Herbert von Karajan or Rudolf Kempe, or even Sir George Solti (the best conductor of Strauss' operas by the way!).

Don Juan Op 20/MacBeth Op 23/DeAth & Transfig
Average customer rating:
Don Juan Op 20/MacBeth Op 23/DeAth & Transfig
R. Strauss , Sanderling , and Orchestra Fil Di Torino
Manufacturer: Real Sound
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B0000508HN
Release Date: 2000-09-19