Strauss Alpensinfonie

You will notice the lack of the word "complete" in the title of this boxed set, and not all the included works fit the title. The "Four Last Songs" don't match the title, but personally, I will listen to this set of orchestral Lieder anytime; this is one of Strauss' finest works.And the Op 7 Serenade in E flat for 13 wind instruments is an anomoly. It appears that there is no complete set available, although there have been traversals of Strass' works which have been released in single volumes at a time. You may be able to assemble all issues in such a set, but I doubt they would cover all works, and, as far as I can find, these releases are not recent.

Die Wiener Philharmoniker sind häufig so etwas wie eine sichere Bank für R. Strauss - und für die Alpensymphonie allemal (man denke nur an die phantastische Aufnahme unter Thielemann). Und auch hier gelingt ihnen - unter dem sehr engagierten Dirigat von S. Ozawa eine herausragende Interpretation.

Celebrating one of the most revered conductors of the 20th century, this series was originally released to commemorate Herbert von Karajan’s 100th birthday in 2008. Using innovate technology to recreate the original concert acoustics, the audio for these DVDs has been re-recorded at the Philharmonic Hall in Berlin and the Musikverein in Vienna, Karajan’s two favourite concert venues, to create re-mastered surround-sound versions of these classic performances. With each DVD featuring von Karajan conducting either the Berlin Philharmonic or Vienna Philharmonic orchestras, two of the highest regarded orchestras in the world, this series really does marry the greatest music, the highest calibre performers, and the best possible audio-visual presentation.

Mehta was a younger and more dynamic conductor when he led his Los Angeles orchestra in this very fine performance. His sense of balance and pacing seems just right, and he never distorts the structure of the piece. The orchestra sounds as good as any of the big names here, and the brass are phenomenal. The sound belies its 1976 provenance. Some famous conductors drive this music too hard.

Many of Richard Strauss's compositions had their world premiere in Dresden and the composer dedicated An Alpine Symphony to the Dresden orchestra. It is apt, therefore, that this performance is given by the Staatskapelle Dresden under the direction of Christian Thielemann. The programme includes Four Last Songs, Wolfgang Rihm's Ernster Gesang and the German premiere of the last completed Strauss song: Mallows, in an orchestral version arranged specifically for Dresden by Wolfgang Rihm. The soprano in these performances, Anja Harteros, is enjoying a flourishing operatic career with recent performances at the MET, Covent Garden, La Scala, and Salzburg Festival.

It’s interesting that Georg Solti’s recordings of Strauss tone poems seem never to have gotten the attention that they deserve. True, he did not program them with the same frequency and comprehensiveness that he did Strauss’ contemporary Mahler, but Solti’s credentials as an exciting and idiomatic conductor of the operas have never been questioned. He knew and worked with the composer personally from his days at the helm of the Munich opera after the Second World War, and more to the point, he plays this music with just the kind of directness and virtuosity that it demands.

Santtu conducts Strauss is a 2-CD deluxe album with four works by Richard Strauss conducted by Principal Conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali, two of which are live recordings of Santtu’s 2021/22 opening concert and first concert as Principal Conductor at Royal Festival Hall. Eine Alpensinfonie and Also sprach Zarathustra are live recordings of Santtu’s opening concert of the 2021/22 season, and his first concert with the Philharmo- nia as Principal Conductor. The concerts received great reviews. Tim Ashley (The Guardian) said “With the Philharmonia on tremendous form, Rouvali proved a fine Straussian, measured in his approach, and careful in his attention to detail and colour”. Rebecca Franks (The Times) awarded 5-star reviews: “There were “wow” moments aplenty as the Philharmonia laced up its hiking boots and happily hit every waymark in Strauss’s mountain journey: the glorious sunrise, the resplendent summit, the violent storm with wind machine, thun- der sheet and organ.”.

Rudolf Kempe’s recordings of Richard Strauss have long been prized for their unparalleled clarity and subtlety in music that has come to define the late-Romantic temperament and its expression of highly strung emotions, whether in a state of Nietzschean exaltation, on the summits of Also sprach Zarathustra and the Alpine Symphony, or in the post-war despair of Metamorphosen. Even in his lighter moods, such as the early and carefree Aus Italien and the late concertos for wind instruments, Strauss loves the complex textures that Kempe and the Staatskapelle Dresden clarify with the utmost skill and sympathy. A classic set, remastered from the original East German master tapes.

Vladimir Jurowski and the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester continue their PENTATONE journey through the heights of German late-Romantic repertoire with a recording of Richard Strauss’s Eine Alpensinfonie. The Alpine Symphony was inspired by the composer’s experiences during a mountain trail, and is an audience favourite thanks to its picturesque, idyllic charm and powerfully evocative score.