[Doc Sarvis]

I don't recall seeing a thread on this (but I could be wrong).

Also Sprach Zarathustra is one of my favorite pieces (and certainly my favorite from R. Strausss). Some of the Mahler thread readers may recall that I postulated some time ago about a borrowing of the Sunrise motif in Mahler 3 (or vice versa) within the 4th movement (which also is based on Nietzsche). Mahler and Strauss knew each other and corresponded...

In any event, I've been listening a lot lately. In the process, I have discovered what is now my favorite recording: Mehta/LAPO, circa 1968. This recording comes from the same era as Mehta's famous Planets reading (nudge nuge, psmith). The sonics and reading are impeccable. Is anyone else familiar with this? It seems to be a bit hard to find now.

What are some other favorites? Indeed, what does everyone love most in the Richard Strauss canon?

 

[Bunnyears]

My first ASZ was Bernstein's with the NYPO, then came HvK. Now I listen to Strauss so infrequently that I don't even know which is my favorite -- probably the Reiner/CSO recording which also has an excellent Heldenleben with it. That's the type of music which really benefits from SACD multitrack recording, and Living Stereo did it so well.

Just looking at Amazon, and there is the Mehta ASZ in a double decker with Holst's Planets and John Williams Star Wars. All done when he was with the LAPO.

 

[Mark from HFR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doc Sarvis What are some other favorites? Indeed, what does everyone love most in the Richard Strauss canon?

Zarathustra is a piece I love more and more as the years go by. I recall that Mehta as being an excellent one, but my favorite is the Haitink recording from the mid-1970's, because it sounds like he sincerely believes that every note of the piece is just as good as the famous opening. His concentration never flags, which is more than I can say for most. Among digital recordings, Karajan's and Previn's recordings from the 1980's are pretty grand, if not as focused as Haitink.

For the best ever Death & Tranfiguration, I turn to the last live concert Victor de Sabata conducted with the VPO in 1954 before his heart attack forced him to retire. When you hear the tension and ecstasy of his performance, it's surprising he didn't have his heart attack right then and there.

Possibly my favorite, though, is Strauss' Alpine Symphony. The choice is between Mehta's L.A. recording and Karajan's BPO digital recording. But I would also like to hear Haitink's at some point, as he proves such a focused guide to Strauss in other works.

Mark

 

[mbhaub]

As much as I admire the Mehta recording, I have to say that I think the best living Strauss conductor is Lorin Maazel, and his recording with his Bavarian orchestra on RCA in all it's Surround Sound glory is simply glorious. Better than his Cleveland recording. Strauss is one composer that Maazel seems to let his hair down and let the orchestra rip.

 

[xchagg]

I enjoyed Christian Thielemann's recording of Ein Heldeblen:

Personal favourites are Heldenleben and Alpensinfonie.

BTW is there a copy of Maazel's recording of Ein Heldenleben with The Cleveland Orchestra on CD? (not looking for the Bavarian RSO issue) I've heard it on an LP in the library but am looking for the CD. Prefered Maazel's interpretation overall, but the brass in Thielemann's recording was simply outstanding

 

[ayso78]

Here's another Karajan digital fan. I never tire of hearing the 4 Last Songs, latest favorite is Kirsten Flagstad (very much in the Jessye Norman vein, or rather the other way around).

 

[PSmith08]

Strauss' Vier letzte Lieder is one of my favorite pieces of music. It might be only one of three or four pieces of music I truly "love" (Mahler's 2nd, "Mild und Leise" (thanks, Mike, by the way), and the Immolation Scene might be the others). Of them all, Von Karajan's recording with Janowitz might be the most quintessentially Straussian. Her silvery, almost-otherworldly soprano seems to fit in best with Strauss' vision. There is a sense of the other, of alienation, in that recording - as though one has to be at the end to fully understand what is happening with the singer and the orchestra. Lisa della Casa's recording with Karl Böhm might be closest to what the composer wrote, and Della Casa's voice was certainly an impressive soprano; however, I think that Von Karajan managed to recreate the Straussian soundscape better than Böhm. Of course, one needs only to turn to Jessye Norman for sheer opulence and glory. Masur does a good job, but the tempi are nerve-gas slow if you are obsessed with the score. I don't know if Norman needed the room to get up the breath or Masur just preferred to run slow out of a valedictory sensibility, but they are s-l-o-w. Schwarzkopf and Szell is a popular record, but I am not entirely fond of it in a way. In another, more accurate, way, I don't like it. Her cloying, pouty tone doesn't do it for me. Her weird diction, tinny voice, and "dramatic" acting (in Lieder, no less) don't help matters.

I might be a bit obsessed about the Vier letzte Lieder.

As to Also sprach Zarathustra, Von Karajan's early Decca record is probably my favorite. This isn't one of my best-beloved works, so if this recording was good enough for Stanley Kubrick, who am I to complain?

 

[iDesign]

Solti/ London+Decca Double Decker (1994) is quite good.

Best,
iDesign

 

[Mark from HFR]

Holy monkey, yeah- The Four Last Songs! I forgot to list them and they're probably better than all the rest combined. I may just have to listen to them soon, now that they've been brought up. My fave is probably Karajan / Janowitz, though I can usually find something loveable about almost any performance. Those songs tend to bring out the best in performers.

M

 

[zhentil]

To my mind, Karajan could do no wrong when it came to conducting Strauss. All of his mannerisms perfectly complemented what Strauss wrote. Some of my favorites:

1) The Karajan recording with Metamorphosen and the Oboe Concerto
2) Vier letzte lieder - Szell
3) Salome - Karajan
4) Lieder - a 6-cd set with Fischer-Dieskau and Moore
5) The Reiner recording with Also Sprach Zarathustra and Ein Heldenleben
6) Der Rosenkavalier - Karajan

 

[Tyson]

I've got this set, which I like quite a bit:

Another set I've heard good things about is:

 

[augustwest]

"Also sprach Zarathustra" is one of only a handful of Karajan recording that I actually like.

By the way Kempe was an R. Strauss genius, highly recommended.

- augustwest

 

[JefferyK]

Deleted.

 

[ooheadsoo]

My favorite Strauss to date:

 

[Ferbose]

Here is a monumental Strauss CD:

http://www.arkivmusic.com/graphics/c.../44/449098.JPG

It is monumental because it features arguably the greatest instrumentalist of the 20th century, Dennis Brain. His technical prowess is so much ahead of the second best horn player of 20th century, Barry Tuckwell that it is not even imaginable. Barry Tuckwell, often called the Heifeitz of the horn, himself said that Brain set the bar so high that his generation found it painful be a professional horn palyer. 20th century saw a lot of amazing instrumentalists like Heifeitz, Richter, Horowitz and Casals, but not a single one of them can dominate his instrument in the way that Brain did for horn. His ability was so supernatural that Karajan once said "thank god" when Brain split a note in the orchestral rehersal, meaning he is still human afterall. It is in the slow, extended notes that Brain sets himself apart.

Strauss' horn concerto #1 is widely seen as the finest for the instrument. Brain is universally recognized as the greatest horn player in history. This is a recording of historic proportions.