Richard Strauss recommendations please

[Todd]

A short while back I asked for some suggestions for Peer Gynt and came away with Herbert Blomstedt as the one to get.  Well, the Blomstedt disc turned out to be superb (I opted for the suites version, paired with Nielsen), so I'm back to ask for more suggestions.

Now I'm interested in the music of Richard Strauss.  I have a decent selection of recordings of his operas, but at present the only non-opera disc I have is the Karajan / Janowitz take on the Vier letzte Lieder.  'Tis a superb disc.  But I think I should try some more.  First and foremost on my list are Don Juan, Ein Heldenleben, and Tod und Verklärung, though suggestions on other orchestral works would be welcome.  Even another take on the last songs would be good.  Again, I'd prefer excellent sound quality, but performance quality trumps all else.  Any tips?

[rubio]

IMO this is close to being the Gold standard for many of these works. There can be equally good recordings, but seldom "better". Staatskapelle Dresden is in excellent form and Kempe is right at home in this repertoire. The sound quality is good for it's age. Considering the price - a must-have if there ever was one!

[ChamberNut]

IMO this is close to being the Gold standard for many of these works. There can be equally good recordings, but seldom "better". Staatskapelle Dresden is in excellent form and Kempe is right at home in this repertoire. The sound quality is good for it's age. Considering the price - a must-have if there ever was one!

I just ordered this set (still awaiting the delivery date any day now), and greatly anticipating it's arrival! 

[david johnson]

reiner/chicago.

dj

[Haffner]

I just ordered this set (still awaiting the delivery date any day now), and greatly anticipating it's arrival! 

I can't wait to hear your opinion on it, please!!!

[rappy]

You can't do wrong with Karajan on Strauss, I think. His Don Juan, Alpine Symphony etc. are fantastic.

[Haffner]

You can't do wrong with Karajan on Strauss, I think. His Don Juan, Alpine Symphony etc. are fantastic.

Agreed. But I haven't heard the Kempe yet.

[mahler10th]

The Kempe is a different kind of 'fantastic'.  The works present a rich and full rendition of Strauss.  I cannot praise it highly enough.

Meanwhile, an unusual one this, I'm not big on Haitink but his explorations of Strauss tone poems are unexpectedly (for me) BRILLIANT with the RCO.  Here is the cover.  It kind of opened me up to the more dynamic Strauss, like unto a series of well executed tsunami's.  I think Haitink makes Strauss sound 'bigger' than ever.

[bhodges]

Second the Haitink recommendation (and I have not yet heard the Kempe).  Additionally, I love Ein Heldenleben, and can recommend these two recordings of it:

Jansons/Concertgebouw (available on CD and on DVD) - One of his first recordings after taking the helm with the orchestra.  The DVD (video) version is marvelous to watch, very well filmed.

Dohnányi/Cleveland - Available at Archiv, and in this case I sort of agree with David Hurwitz (although I wouldn't characterize their Mahler as "duds"): "No major-label artists in the recording heyday of the late 1980s and early '90s received shabbier treatment than Dohnányi and the Cleveland Orchestra. Sure, they had their share of duds (most of their Mahler), but the list of excellent releases that either weren't distributed internationally, were instantly deleted, and in general were just plain ignored, is a long and sad one. Does anyone remember these performances?"  I imagine the dismal cover art was one reason this release came and went so quickly--a real shame.

--Bruce

[karlhenning]

Or even: Doráti/Minneapolis Symphony

[Haffner]

I think Haitink makes Strauss sound 'bigger' than ever.

oooOOOOO.

[Haffner]

Or even: Doráti/Minneapolis Symphony

Heyy...here's one I haven't seen, and a conductor I respect.

[mjwal]

Historical recordings: apart from Strauss's own recordings on various labels, there are Mitropoulos live - Alpine symphony, Sinfonia Domestica & Also sprach Zarathustra (Orfeo);
Mengelberg - Don Juan, Ein Heldenleben w/NYPO 1927 (various labels) Albert Coates - Tod und Verklärung.
Vier letzte Lieder - Böhm/Della Casa, 2-4 Sebastian/Flagstad. Orchestral songs - Patzak/Krauss or Strauss (Andromeda).

[nimrod79]

One set that has slipped under the radar a bit is Previn's survey of most of Strauss' major tone poems with the Vienna Philharmonic on Telarc.  I'm not even sure if the set or its components are still in print.  Ein Heldenleben, Eine Alpensinfonie, and the Four Last Songs (with Auger) are fantastic.  His interpretations of Don Juan, Don Quixote, Death and Transfiguration, and Also Sprach Zarathustra are also quite good.  Till is sadly missing.  I'd recommend Kempe first, but Previn's certainly worth a listen for the excellent recorded sound and playing by the Vienna Philharmonic.

[Gustav]

My personal favorite Don Juan is still Kempe/S.Dresden, my favorite Ein Heldenleben however is this:

As for Also Sprach Zarathustra, there is one that i liked:

Boehm/BP

[M forever]

You can't do wrong with Karajan on Strauss, I think. His Don Juan, Alpine Symphony etc. are fantastic.

Sure you can go wrong with Karajan. He was a great Strauss conductor, and I was lucky to have had the opportunity to hear him conduct most of the major tone poems live in Berlin in the 80s. Those concerts are still among the most impressive concert experiences of my life. But HvK on disc is a very different matter. Especially his DG discs from the same period are often spoilt by the dry, glaring, blary recordings which do not reflect the deep, rich, but very finetuned sound the BP had under him, especially in these complex pieces which he rehearsed and worked on tirelessly, even in the last years, when they had played them countless times together, and made several recordings of many of them.
The worst case, as I have pointed out before, is the Alpensinfonie which is sonically a catastrophe. One of DG's first digital recordings and the first they released on CD, they severely misjudged the new format and produced a recording which was supposed to be really spectacular, but is really just one giant sonic mess which does not do the performances they gave of the piece justice at all. It was also the first time HvK actually conducted the piece. DG hadn't had a recording of it since Böhm's 1957 recording from Dresden (still in mono), and they asked HvK, who, strangely, had never conducted the piece to make a recording. They also paid for an unusually large number of rehearsals just for the recording. So the orchestra was definitely well prepared and HvK usually came with a well thought-through concept even to pieces he did for the first time. But although the playing is technically very good, his later live performances were much more flexible, flowing, much richer in detail projection and the long-line vision of the music.
This is fortunately preserved in the live concert (from 1984 or so) which is available on CD. The sound isn't really great either, but it is much "truer" to what that actually sounded like than the DG disc. Even the "Karajan Gold" remastering is not that big of an improvement. I actually know from DG people that internally, they weren't happy with how the recording sounded either, and they actually discussed going back to the original multi-track master and completely redoing it, but that would be too time-consuming (meaning too expensive) to justify.
The same applies to his last DG recording of Zarathustra which does sound somewhat better than the Alpensinfonie, but again, the live concert film from 1987 is a much better version which gives the listener/viewer a much better impression of how good that orchestra could play that music under HvK. That was also the last time ever that he conducted that piece, BTW.
The best of his late Strauss recordings on DG is Don Quixote which is also sonically much better than the other ones. I think it was actually the last one to be recorded (1986 or so), and by that time, DG's approach to recording in the new digital medium had drastically improved. So that one is both musically and sonically very rewarding.

[rappy]

Thanks, I didn't know that. I'm too young to have heard Karajan live, so I can't compare. I think I simply got used to the sound, because I don't know the original.

[M forever]

I think in general people who like that recording don't really know what a big symphony orchestra sounds like. Certainly not like that.
I would really give a lot to have a recording which reflects what the BP under HvK sounded like in that piece (at least in "miniaturized" form), which I heard twice with them and which really were among the most impressive performances of anything I have ever heard, so I have tried to "make peace" with that recording for a quarter of a century now, trying to at least hear echoes of that in that recording, but no, it is just too bad. Well, at least there is that very nice concert film.
BTW, a much better impression (again in "miniaturized" form, so to speak) of what the BP sounded like in that piece is the Sony recording with Mehta conducting which was made a few years later.

[Timmyb]

Kempe's Alpine symphony is very near the top of my favorite classical recordings list.
Karajan's Metamorphosen/Tod Und Verklarung recording is also a favorite.

[samuel]

you absolutely MUST!!! hear lisa della casa in the four last songs with karl bohm and the vpo. she honestly might have the most beautiful voice i've ever heard.

http://www.amazon.com/Strauss-Songs-Arabella-letzte-Lieder/dp/B00004XQ8H/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1220574760&sr=1-2

this is a good place to start for the tone poems:

http://www.amazon.com/Strauss-Eulenspiegels-Merry-Pranks-Transfiguration/dp/B0000025JH/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1220574804&sr=1-1