- Orchestra: Richard Strauss
- Conductor: London Symphony Orchestra, John Barbirolli
- Composer: Richard Strauss, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- Audio CD (6 Nov 2000)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Label: BBC Legends
- ASIN: B000050HYH
- Other Editions: MP3 Download
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 386,878 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
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Product details |
Track Listings
| 1. Mozart: Symphony No.36 in C (Linz) - ditto |
| 2. Strauss: Ein Heldenleben - ditto |
Product Description
BBC Music Magazine
This tribute to one of the best loved of conductors is a concert recorded in the Royal Festival Hall in 1969 and it springs to life almost as vividly as it must have on the day. At the same time, it proves the extent to which performance styles have altered in the intervening three decades. This Linz Symphony is likely to be considered desperately unfashionable now, with its leisurely tempi, its full tone and grandly dramatic gestures. It succeeds, however, in conjuring up a Don Giovanni-like spirit immediately, carrying a solidity and conviction that today's anorexic performances often lack - Mae West rather than Kate Moss, and with all the associated sparkle. The Strauss is glorious from start to finish: Barbirolli's hero is a romantic, noble spirit, while his whimsical 'companion' is presented with delicacy and wit by John Georgiadis's violin solo. The LSO's string section responds with lush tone and beautifully applied portamenti. The battle is hair-raising, the trumpets wonderfully sardonic and threatening. The performance as a whole sweeps along with the momentum and scale of conception of a great epic novel. It's live recording at its finest, and the rapturous audience response at the end is all part of it.
Performance *****
Sound ****
© BBC Music Magazine 2001
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Oh to have been a fly on the wall of the Royal Festival Hall during this inspired performance! The LSO and Barbirolli here give a vital, passionate and overwhelming account of this wonderful score. This is a Hero who knows and feels life's many ups and downs and Barbirolli and his players draw out every colourful strand of this music with total commitment. A quite overwhelming performance in good late sixties sound.
Unforgettable!
Unforgettable!
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I have recently acquired (very inexpensively) some of the BBC Legends Barbirolli releases, this being one of them. Now "Glorious John" was, at times, an undoubtedly great conductor and some of his studio recordings have certainly stood the test of time. However, some of these BBC Legends releases don't do a great deal for Barbirolli's posthumus reputation, at least with this listener.
This is a poor recording in several respects. Whilst the Mozart is in reasonable sound, the engineers had a difficult time with the Strauss in 1969; it's muddy and obscured. Barbirolli and the LSO are slow to get going in the Mozart, especially in the Adagio and later in the Presto. This one is instantly forgettable and a pretty pointless release.
Some love this recording of the Strauss Ein Heldenleben, but I can't hear why. The balances are all over the place, the performance drags along, in short, it's boring!
Might have been alright on the night, but this one should have been left in the can.
Not recommended.
This is a poor recording in several respects. Whilst the Mozart is in reasonable sound, the engineers had a difficult time with the Strauss in 1969; it's muddy and obscured. Barbirolli and the LSO are slow to get going in the Mozart, especially in the Adagio and later in the Presto. This one is instantly forgettable and a pretty pointless release.
Some love this recording of the Strauss Ein Heldenleben, but I can't hear why. The balances are all over the place, the performance drags along, in short, it's boring!
Might have been alright on the night, but this one should have been left in the can.
Not recommended.
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