Richard Strauss's house

[Ken B]

The discussion is on so please do us a favor and blow.

Mr Good Taste Arbiter speaks.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Mr Good Taste Arbiter speaks.

Who, me or you?

[TheGSMoeller]

+1. I love the two Sonatinas, although the version I have is a DG disc with members of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (haven't heard the Philips disc). It's refreshing to read about some of the out-of-the-way works of Strauss. When you said you'd be writing about more than just the tone poems you weren't kidding.

(Hope it's okay to post alternative recordings).

I was hoping to generate discussion by posting these works/recordings, so yes, thank you, DD!   
And my alternate recording of choice of the Sonatinas is in fact the Orpheus CO, it's a truly great disc. I'm also of fan of just about everything the Orpheus CO has released, which includes another Strauss disc featuring Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme.

You risk the return of the frogsorcist.

Don't make me get off this lily pad, Ken.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

I'm also of fan of just about everything the Orpheus CO has released, which includes another Strauss disc featuring Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme. 

Oh, I had known about that disc at one time but completely forgot about it. Thanks for mentioning it. Will investigate.

[TheGSMoeller]

10 Days, 10 Works - of Richard Strauss

3. Elektra (1908)

This opera is scary. Everything about this opera is scary. The music, and subject matter.... scary. Even the demands on the orchestra and soprano lead are scary. Yep, scary.
Wait, you do know that scary in this context means good, right? 
Strauss' expressionistic masterpiece is filled with soaring melodies, dissonance and blood, lots of blood. The brute strength of the music and singing never seems to slow down, or let up until the powerful final bars. I find myself quite exhausted when Elektra ends, but I'm also always completely amazed at the experience. It always feels to me like Strauss' most modern sounding piece.
I find myself listening to Ariadne auf Naxos more than any other opera from Strauss, it's like listening to a 2-hour love song, its lovely. And no scene is as bizarrely brilliant than Salome proclaiming her love to a severed head right before kissing it. But Elektra is a true one of a kind, it's Strauss at his most fierce.

I don't collect as many recordings of operas than I do for orchestral or chamber works. Currently the operas I own the most recordings of is Wozzeck with 4, then Magic Flute, Purcell's Dido & Aeneas and Monteverdi's Orfeo all at 3. And at the moment I only own, or have even listened to, one recording of Elektra, the 1967 performance with Solti/Wiener and Birgit Nilsson in the title role. So my choice of recording is a little biased, but this one seems to get positive critique by close to everyone. I love this Elektra, although I would love to hear more at some point.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

It always feels to me like Strauss' most modern sounding piece.

Yes, agree. Quite an ambitious work. Its modernist edges are sharp and I really enjoy its many flashes of uncertainty. 

I love this Elektra, although I would love to hear more at some point.

This is bound to be one of those works where everyone under the sun will have a favorite recording. I've seen it live once and I've owned two recordings: Böhm (DG) and Bychkov (Profil). Unfortunately Böhm's just got the boot though...couldn't take the nonexistent orchestra (bad recording). A work this complex needs all its parts audible for maximum impact. 

Bychkov is my main man now. Everything comes together nicely: singing, pacing, structure, edginess, and a walloping orchestral presence. Absolute success on every level.   




[asin]B000BM3MO8[/asin]

[TheGSMoeller]

Yes, agree. Quite an ambitious work. Its modernist edges are sharp and I really enjoy its many flashes of uncertainty. 

This is bound to be one of those works where everyone under the sun will have a favorite recording. I've seen it live once and I've owned two recordings: Böhm (DG) and Bychkov (Profil). Unfortunately Böhm's just got the boot though...couldn't take the nonexistent orchestra (bad recording). A work this complex needs all its parts audible for maximum impact. 

Bychkov is my main man now. Everything comes together nicely: singing, pacing, structure, edginess, and a walloping orchestral presence. Absolute success on every level.   




[asin]B000BM3MO8[/asin]

Great, DD! I was hoping for new recs. I actually don't think I have anything from Bychkov in my collection, perhaps a shostakovich symphony, but this one looks good, I will search for it.

[Sergeant Rock]

Bychkov is my main man now. Everything comes together nicely: singing, pacing, structure, edginess, and a walloping orchestral presence. Absolute success on every level.

I saw Elektra at Covent Garden in 1972, Solti conducting essentially the same cast as on the recording. For that reason alone, Solti will always occupy a special place in my collection. And really, I've never felt the need for another. It just seems perfect, from the conducting and cast to Culshaw's production. But the Bychkov is intriguing. I didn't think anyone could surpass Kempe's Lohengrin but damn if Bychkov didn't do it. For that reason, and for your comments, DD, I'm seriously considering his Elektra.

Sarge

[North Star]

I'm grossly underexposed to Strauss, so this "10 days, 10 works" is a great help & motivation for me to listen to more - thanks, Greg.
I liked the first two works a lot, particularly Stimmungsbilder - and the Piano Sonata, too. I've been meaning to hear the operas for a looong time, and am now listening to Elektra for the first time on Youtube, and enjoying it so far. (Sinopoli & VPO, 1997)

[TheGSMoeller]

I'm grossly underexposed to Strauss, so this "10 days, 10 works" is a great help & motivation for me to listen to more - thanks, Greg.
I liked the first two works a lot, particularly Stimmungsbilder - and the Piano Sonata, too. I've been meaning to hear the operas for a looong time, and am now listening to Elektra for the first time on Youtube, and enjoying it so far. (Sinopoli & VPO, 1997)

You're welcome, Karlo! And thank you for joining in. Please let us know your thoughts on what you listen to.

[Brahmsian]

If you can ever get a hold of this Salome, either on DVD or Blu-Ray, do check it out!  Riveting performance by Ewing.  The video quality isn't the greatest, but the performances are amazing.

[asin]B00005RIXS[/asin]

[Moonfish]

If you can ever get a hold of this Salome, either on DVD or Blu-Ray, do check it out!  Riveting performance by Ewing.  The video quality isn't the greatest, but the performances are amazing.

[asin]B00005RIXS[/asin]

Tempting....

How does it compare with the Stratas/Varnay/Böhm?

[asin] B000NVL49W[/asin]

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Great, DD! I was hoping for new recs. I actually don't think I have anything from Bychkov in my collection, perhaps a shostakovich symphony, but this one looks good, I will search for it.

I don't have much Bychkov either - just this Elektra and (ironically) another Strauss disc of tone poems - but to me they both "get the job done".

[Dancing Divertimentian]

I saw Elektra at Covent Garden in 1972, Solti conducting essentially the same cast as on the recording. For that reason alone, Solti will always occupy a special place in my collection. And really, I've never felt the need for another. It just seems perfect, from the conducting and cast to Culshaw's production. But the Bychkov is intriguing. I didn't think anyone could surpass Kempe's Lohengrin but damn if Bychkov didn't do it. For that reason, and for your comments, DD, I'm seriously considering his Elektra.

Sarge

I wish I could be more helpful as far as comparisons but I've never heard Solti's recording w/Nilsson. Though I can take a pretty good stab at it and say that, in the role of Elektra, Polaski won't match Nilsson in the, umm..."vocal projectionist" department. But that poses no problem for me. I like Nilsson but, cards on the table, I've never really found a way to love her.

One other thing that might help is the Böhm I just very recently parted with had issues with its sound. There just wasn't much presence. The vocals were fine but the orchestra sounded like it needed a major caffeine boost (inadequately recorded). So there's a chance my impression of Bychkov is somewhat skewed since the Böhm just never caught fire like I thought it should.

But honestly I don't feel that's the case. I have plenty of other Strauss opera recordings and the big name conductors are well represented: Solti, Sawallisch, Kempe, Haitink, another Böhm (this time a rousing success), etc...and to me Bychkov settles in nicely with this company.

[Brahmsian]

Tempting....

How does it compare with the Stratas/Varnay/Böhm?

[asin] B000NVL49W[/asin]

Sorry, Poisson de Lune, I cannot comment as I have not seen this production. 

[Brahmsian]

And I now realize I need to apologize for crashing Greg's Strauss countdown.  Resume talking about Elektra.  Sorry, Greg. 

[TheGSMoeller]

And I now realize I need to apologize for crashing Greg's Strauss countdown.  Resume talking about Elektra.  Sorry, Greg. 

No, Ray, this is what I wanted, discussions on Richard Strauss' music and recordings. I'm just giving my own "10 works" list but was hoping others would either do the same or something similar, or at least comment on my posts. Stay, Ray, stay! 

[Brahmsian]

No, Ray, this is what I wanted, discussions on Richard Strauss' music and recordings. I'm just giving my own "10 works" list but was hoping others would either do the same or something similar, or at least comment on my posts. Stay, Ray, stay! 

  OK.   

The burning question I have is:  Is Richard Strauss your favourite composer? 

[TheGSMoeller]

10 Days, 10 Works - of Richard Strauss

4. Don Quixote, Op. 35 (1897)

One of the three orchestral tone poems that makes my list is possibly Strauss' most literal sounding. The overall structure of Quixote is fascinating, presented in a theme and variation form with a solo cello representing the title character. This soloist, although plays the major role of this program, is actually part of an intricate score that includes other characters like his squire Sancho Panza (played by a solo viola) and amazingly orchestrated events that incorporate tongue-fluttering brass as sheep and a powerful wind machine for Don's ride through the air. It's a brilliant musical journey that is just as fantastically scored and composed as the protagonist's fantasies, the story seamlessly jumps out from the music.

Quixote is very well represented on disc. Cellists Rostropovich, Starker, Janigro and Ma and conductors Karajan, Reiner and Kempe all creating indispensable performances. I do mean it when I say there are about a dozen recordings of this piece you can't go wrong with. So I'm going out on a limb here, and risk backlash, by making my rec one of the newer recordings of Quixote, 2013 to be exact.
Cellist Alban Gerhardt along with Markus Stenz conducting the Cologne Gürzenich Orchestra offer an impeccable reading here, with an added bonus of having Lawrence Power on viola. But what really shines with this one is the glorious recording quality done by Hyperion. All the detail is present, the music is transparent with the players in close up. This is one of those discs that make you glad you spent that extra $$ on headphones. The Cologne Gürzenich Orchestra perform superbly, staying behind the lead characters when needed but in superiorly tight form when Strauss' gives them moments to shine.

[TheGSMoeller]

The burning question I have is:  Is Richard Strauss your favourite composer? 

I've definitely given Strauss that title more than any other composer in the past. Strauss' music is a big reason why I began listening to classical music, and still do to this day. It's very personal occasions when I listen to his music as I've have been for so long now and it has created some great memories, both in seeing some of these performed live or the music just relating to something in my life.