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Tarfumes.com - Strauss: Orchestral Works
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List Price: $62.98
Our Price: $41.97
Your Save: $ 21.01 ( 33% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: EMI Classics
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0724357361422
Format: Box set
Label: EMI Classics
Manufacturer: EMI Classics
Number Of Discs: 9
Publisher: EMI Classics
Release Date: 1999-11-16
Studio: EMI Classics
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Editorial Reviews:
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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
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Strauss Orchestral Works
Comment: Strauss is usually hard to separate the good from the bad in the more marginal works, however the tone poems are always worth the price (with a couple exceptions). Under the aegis of Kempe, the fine Strauss orchestral lines are clearer than under almost any other conductor. Plus you get some really rarely performed pieces. An A+ in my book!
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Making lemonade out of some really sour lemons
Comment: Strauss called himself a "first-class second-rate composer" and I'd say that assessment is about right. He's not groundbreaking in any way, despite what Strauss enthusiasts might say. Other Germanic composers of his time were atonally tuneless (like Schoenberg) or just astringent and academic (like Hindemith). For the most part, Strauss's works are provincial, pleasant, and quaint -- what any Bavarian with a good command of a symphony orchestra would write.
Lots of people crow on and on about Ein Heldenleben and Till Eulenspiegel (both outstanding works and excellently performed on Disc 3). His best works tend to be the straightforward ones and they're famous for being so blatant in their descriptions. I would say about 5 discs of this set are great -- excellent performances of works that could be incredibly boring if put in the wrong hands. Fortunately, Kempe and the Dresden Orchestra do amazing things. The sound isn't the greatest (these are kind of old recordings), but the warmth and excitement is uncommonly good.
The rest of his works, and there are plenty of them, are absolutely miserable and third-rate. I have yet to find a person who finds any musical merit or amusement in Panathenaezug. I realize it's hard to make a work with a left-hand piano solo work well, but Ravel this is certainly not. The other piano works (which comprise the rest of Disc 2) are also abominations. Zarathustra (disc 5) rambles endlessly -- after hearing the famous opening, it's best to go on to something else. I'm angered by the fact I've wasted 35 minutes of my life every time I've listened to the lifeless and incredibly inane music found in Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (disc 6).
So I'm giving this box set 3 stars. 5 stars for the good stuff, 1 star for the dreck. No one should be subjected to some of Strauss's long-winded torture, regardless of how badly some might think they want his complete orchestral works (though this isn't even a complete set anyway).
Knowing what I know now about Strauss, I would not buy this set. I would have been much happier with a smaller box with his true gems on it with updated sound quality. I suppose I would have bought this set anyway just to see how bad the bad works are. You've been warned.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Strauss by his compatriots - GREAT
Comment: The performance seems excellent
Very few have the guts to play Richard Strauss (e.g. Burleska for piano or the AlpenSinfonie) but Kempe is convincing
Customer Rating:
Summary: outstanding
Comment: I will never get tired of listening to this set where Kempe is really at his best with an orchestra incredibly coloured , precise and good...
Buy it immediately , it is a must
Customer Rating:
Summary: Outstanding performances
Comment: 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!
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