Strauss: Salome (Home of Opera) [Box set]

I've been besotted with this work since acquiring the Solti set as a teenager, at that time the only stereo version available, but soon followed by the absolutely superb Leinsdorf, now reissued at a pittance and reviewed with 5 stars by Ralph Moore, to which review I commend the reader and to which I can add little or nothing. I THINK I've got ALL the stereo era recordings of this work-and enjoy them all, though the Ozawa and regrettably the Mackerras recordings fall well short of the others. For me, THE performance is this one, though it is not without its caveats.
Karajan was the non-pareil Strauss interpreter, and his vast conception of this work was indeed the summation of his prowess. It is a hybrid recording technically-financed by EMI, and with Michel Glotz producing (in other words-Karajan!) but recorded in Decca's exclusive venue of the Sofiensall by the Decca team under James Lock, doyen of recording engineers. The results are stunning, especially in this remastering, with a spaciousness and a real sense of the vast forces required not even achieved in Solti's Decca recordings.
The playing is just sublime, and the recording very detailed-the celesta is clearly audible when it should be, and the climaxes are truly cataclysmic.
Karajan's conception is like a drug-induced fantasy, seemingly in slow-motion while actually being propelled forward inexorably.
This is the sweetness and decadence of a rotting peach, not just the almost delicious destruction of a decadent family and regime, but of the Romantic era itself-it is like Romanticism burning out in a final great orgiastic cataclysm!
To achieve this end, Karajan chose his cast carefully. Behrens captures the sex-kittenish playfulness in the early scene perfectly, and the monstrous deranged necrophiliac intensity of the climax equally perfectly. She is not surpassed in other recordings, though it can be argued that she is equalled at least, and this is undoubtedly her finest achievement and a fitting testament following her sad untimely death.
She is matched by van Dam, who of course sings with power and beautiful firm tone, but in this performance he gives the dramatic interpretation of his career. This is no hectoring declamatory fanatic of a Jokaanan, but a charismatic visionary, horrified yet tempted. Only Milnes in the Leinsdorf approaches him in this role.
Herod is a key role, and can be strung "straight", as with Richard Lewis and Robert Tear, powerfully as with Richard Cassilly and Walter Raffeiner, or as a grotesque caricature best exemplified by Stolze. For me, perfection lies midway, and the Crown goes to Zednik for Mehta.
The Herod in this set is on initial impression strangely underplayed in what was Bohm's only leading role on record-well sung, but rather under characterised. The same applies to Baltsa's fine Herodias-beautifully sung, but not the most withering of assumptions-Resnik and Fassbaender share honours for that title.
This is in my view quite deliberate-for Karajan, the main protagonists are Salome , Jokanaan -and the orchestra-and he does not want the Herod/Herodias sideshow to be a distraction from the main event.
They "Hold their Own" certainly, but do not dominate in a way that Stolze and others do in their scenes. This leaves Karajan to work his unique magic and deliver an incomparable musical experience in this work.
Other roles are filled by stalwarts from the Vienna State Opera, including a young Kurt Rydl. Ochman repeats his excellent neurotic Narraboth , already heard on the Bohm Hamburg recording, and all minor roles are superbly filled.
Is this THE definitive Salome? It's my favourite certainly, but I also would not relinquish the Leinsdorf, the Mehta or either of the Bohm recordings. Others have their strengths too, though I am less fond of the Solti than I used to be.
This is an "Important" recording, one of the great swansongs of the analogue era, and Karajan never gave a better performance than here. Coupled with the stunning recording and now ridiculously low price, this is a " must have" set, and to award stars would be inadequate-there are not enough available.
Stewart Crowe