Strauss - An Alpine Symphony

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

 

 

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Straight off the bat it has to be said this is a remarkable PERFORMANCE. The Weimar Orchestra is a hidden jewel and I would take a bet that this will be the start of it's international rehabilitation. Every section of the orchestra contributes distinctively - rich and passionate string playing, powerful sonorous brass with glorious horns, characterful plangent woodwinds. All of these qualities are brought together to serve a performance of this piece by Wit which sweeps away any reservations that one might have previously had that it is no more than a sumptuously scored aural picture postcard. The liner notes link the pictorial element - storm/sunrise/descent etc to Nietzsche's philosophical ideas. In Wit's hands with tempi broadly paced and climaxes carefully built this conception finally rings true.

Naxos in recent years particularly have produced recordings of tremendous quality - Arnold 9, Bax String Quartets, the Bliss recordings, Tintner's Bruckner but I suspect this is the first time when it can be truely said that they have topped ALL other performances in a very competitive field.

To my ear the engineering is excellent - the orchestra set in a believable concert hall acoustic allowing detail yet warmth. It is NOT the multi-miked over-analytical engineering that some enjoy but instead it provides a beautifully believable listening environment. Yet at the same time many details are audible which are lost in other performances. If you like Strauss you will love this disc, without doubt one of the recordings of the year. Congratulations to all concerned!

The Alpine Symphony is most definitely one of my favorite pieces of music ever written, so when I listen to a performance of the masterpiece, I can not help but be harsh in my criticisms. From the recordings I have heard, none had impressed me enough to reccommend it, there was always something that I would pick out and criticise. And those recordings included the popular Solti recording, and the far too quickly paced Franz Welser-Möst recording.
But when I sat down to listen to Antoni Wit's recording, I was surprised that I could not find much to criticise at all!

I was amazed to find a recording that actually followed pretty much all the dynamics Strauss marked down in the score. All sforzandos were played, and with so much power. And the dynamic balance between the orchestra was excellently handled by Wit, with the many layers in Strauss' scoring being heard. Wit's tempo is very well-judged, and it always does work, it may sometimes seem a tad slow compared to some other performance (especially the Welser-Most!) but it is never dragging and always expressing the music to the full. The Staastkapelle Weimar are certainly a wonderful orchestra with very warm, expressive playing throughout the whole piece. Only two or three times where I heard a mistake, an example would be when the horn fluffs the top Eb near the beggining of "Ausklang" or when it feels like the strings "gliss" a little too early on the second to last note of the last movement. But these are criticisms that could be said of so many recordings anyway, as this is a very challenging score to play and not many orchestras get it completely right.
But the orchestra produce a wonderful sound and really do justice to Strauss' masterful orchestration with many details emphasised, for example the wind fluttertongue and string trills are very evident in "Auf der Alm". The orchestra is also very adaptable and portray the different moods Strauss is showing very well. Whether it is the mysterious opening "Nacht", the passion in "Sonnenaufgang", the longing and struggle in "Vision", the sensitive "Elegy", the sinister "Stille vor dem Sturm", the excitment of "Gewitter und Sturm" or the reminiscent "Ausklang".

The sound quality is very good and really allows the wonderful sounds the orchestra are creating to come through. However, at times the lower brass can seem a little harsh and overpowering, but it is normally fine. Apart from that, the sounds quality is excellent.

There are so many points of excellence in this recording which could easily make this a definite performance. I would just like to name a few points that impressed me in particular: the very beggining with the mysterious atmosphere captured perfectly with dark, haunting bassoons and lower brass. The build up to "Am Wasserful" made even more exciting by obeying Strauss' dynamics. All the textures being brought out in "Auf der Alm", the extremely passionate climaxes in "Gefahrvolle Augenblicke" and the extra sinister atmosphere Wit builds in "Stille vor dem Sturm". And not forgetting the beautiful playing in "Ausklang".

Even though I still have a fair few recordings of this masterpiece to listen to, I can tell that this recording is going to be extremely hard to beat. I would extremely look forward to any other recordings Wit and his orchestra made of Richard Strauss, let that be a hint to Naxos as I am sure many other people, after hearing this, would feel the same way.

Daniel Hogan

I bought this some years ago at a time in my life when I was not so in love with the Strauss tone poems. The critics had raved about this Naxos disc and I had had some good earlier experiences with Wit's work so I thought I would give it a go. I loved it from first hearing. I had actually bought several records that day and had sat down to just sample my purchases. But I could not stop listening to this one. It is compelling and deeply satisfying. Since that time I have listened to accounts that are more dramatic and to two of Karajan's incredible sound feasts. But my love and respect for Wit's is undiminished - it is as good as any I have heard and I still return to it often.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Simply the best ever!!
I have had a long love affair with the Alpensinfonie, since first hearing the work in 1963. There have been several magnificent recordings, my personal favourites have always been... Read more

Published on 16 July 2007 by Geoffrey W. Fawcett

5.0 out of 5 stars An Everest of a Performance
As an aficionado of Richard Strauss in general, and of his tone poems in particular, this performance of An Alpine Symphony by Antoni Wit and the Staatskapelle Weimar is , quite... Read more

Published on 28 Aug 2006 by Ashfield Records

5.0 out of 5 stars Take the Climb
I'm no expert on the Alpine Symphony - but as an introduction to it, and at a bargain price, I think this performance takes some beating. Read more

Published on 9 Aug 2006 by avl06

3.0 out of 5 stars You Can Do Better
I wouldn't venture to guess how many recordings of Strauss's 'Alpine Symphony' there have been, going all the way back to Strauss himself conducting it. Read more

Published on 4 July 2006 by J Scott Morrison

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