From: rtut@troi.cc.rochester.edu (Raymond Tuttle)
Newsgroups: rec.music.classical
Subject: Kempe conducts Richard Strauss - new reissues on EMI Classics
Date: 4 Jan 93 23:36:36 GMT
Organization: University of Rochester (Rochester, NY)

Most big-name conductors have tackled the music of Richard Strauss at
several times in their careers, but only a few of them have come to be
associated with his music because of the consistent quality of their
interpretations.  In the operas, Sir Georg Solti has reigned supreme
ever since his recording of Salome, and  conductors like Clemens
Krauss and Fritz Reiner have left an indelible mark with wonderful
recordings of both orchestral and vocal works by Strauss.   

Rudolf Kempe, who died in 1976, was another Strauss specialist, and
one who recorded a considerable number of his works, most
significantly for EMI with the Staatskapelle Dresden in the last years
of his life.  These superb recordings have been reissued by EMI Classics
in three sets of 3 CDs each, and at a bargain price that will tempt many
collectors. 

Each of the three volumes contains both familiar and less familiar
works.  Volume 1 (CMS 64342) contains the following works: the two
Horn Concertos (with soloist Peter Damm), the Oboe Concerto (with
Manfred Clement), the Duett-Concertino (with Manfred Weise, clarinet,
and Wolfgang Liebscher, bassoon), "Burleske" (with Malcolm Frager,
piano),  "Parergon zur Sinfonia Domestica,"  "Panathenaenzug" (both
with Peter Rosel, piano), "Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche," "Don
Juan" and "Ein Heldenleben". 

Volume 2 (CMS 64346) contains the Violin Concerto (with Ulf
Hoelscher), "Sinfonia Domestica," "Also Sprach Zarathustra," "Tod und
Verklarung," waltzes from "Der Rosenkavalier," the "Dance of the Seven
Veils" from "Salome," the suite from "Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme," a
waltz from "Schlagobers" and a symphonic fragment from
"Josephslegende". 

Volume 3 (CMS 64350) contains "Metamorphosen," "Eine Alpen-
sinfonie," "Aus Italien," "Macbeth," "Don Quixote" (with Paul Tortelier)
and the "Couperin-Tanzsuite". 

All of the discs play for more than an hour, and several are more than
75 minutes long.  Only one truly important orchestral work has been
omitted (the "Vier Letzte Lieder"), and the omission of some of Strauss'
more incredibly bombastic occasional works is not a tragedy. 

As I mentioned, EMI cleverly has contrived to mix the most popular
works together with the less well-known ones in the same volume. 
People who have been collecting CDs for a while probably already will
have versions of "Also Sprach Zarathustra," "Don Juan," etc. that they
are happy with, and may resent being forced into duplicating repertoire
just to get the "Couperin- Tanzsuite," for example.  First of all, most of
Strauss' lesser-known works are available in competing CD versions,
but these often are full-priced and indifferently performed.  More
importantly, there is something to be said for owning of cycle of
Strauss' nearly-complete orchestral works with a single conductor in
performances as persuasive as these. 

I use the word "persuasive" quite literally since my opinion about
Richard Strauss' music usually varies greatly from piece to piece.  I
love "Eine Alpensinfonie" and "Tod und Verklarung," but I usually run
away from "Also Sprach Zarathustra" and "Ein Heldenleben," for
example.  Kempe's sincere and sane performances have persuaded me to
reconsider my dismissal of some of Strauss' music as pretentious trash
or egotistic nonsense.  Usually, I only get through three or four of the
garments in question in the  "Dance of the Seven Veils" from "Salome"
before I fall out of my chair giggling, but Kempe kept me listening, and
almost admiring Strauss' fearless tackiness when the work crashed to
an end. The Staatskapelle Dresden won't be mistaken for the Vienna
Philharmonic or the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, but they are on top of
the music at all times. 

In many performances, the music of Richard Strauss can be like a
pompous relative who stands up to make a toast at a family gathering
and who is still talking ten minutes later as everyone's food gets cold
on their plates.  Kempe keeps the music moving without rushing it, and
refuses to become entranced, like Narcissus, with the beauty and
volume of the sounds pouring out from his baton.  Kempe finds the
music's real spiritual qualities, and his dedicated conducting,
especially his ear for pacing and transparency of orchestral textures,
prevents the music from bogging  down.  I still don't know if Richard
Strauss was a great composer, but I hold him in higher regard now than
I did before I heard these recordings. 

The digital transfers are good, but show that these recordings were
over-miked at the time that they were made.  This brings clarity but
not always reality to the sonic image.  Still, worse recordings are
being made today, and I don't think the sound will prevent anyone from
enjoying these performances.  I strongly recommend them, especially at
the price. 








--
****************************************   Raymond S. Tuttle
"Dunkel ist das Leben, ist der Tod,"       University of Rochester
but it's nothing to get depressed about!   (still with his two little 
****************************************   white mice).
Newsgroups: rec.music.classical