Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Naxos' Greatest Achievement?, 24 Aug 2006
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!
|
|
|
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Everest of a Performance, 28 Aug 2006
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 simply, one of the most intense and dramatic available. Slower then most recordings , it neither drags its heels nor outstays its welcome and can be placed alongside those of Rudolf Kempe, Clemens Krauss, Wilhelm Mengelberg and Serge Koussevitsky. The recording, too, is excellent - clear and spacious. One of the bargains of the year.
The only downside is that the recording is not available on vinyl !
|
|
|
9 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
You Can Do Better, 4 Jul 2006
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. But the competition is fierce. The present recording with Antoni Wit conducting the Staatskapelle Weimar is not bad, but it's also not among the best. First, there is the matter of the sound. The recording level is very low and you'll have to crank up your volume to hear everything. Not in itself a serious problem, but I do think it affects the overall depth of sound. Second, though, and much more important, there is rather a mishmash when we get to the really loud and complicated passages, such as 'Gewitter und Sturm, Abstieg' ('Thunder and Storm, Descent'). Although the individual sections of the Weimar orchestra are good, somehow they don't always mesh very well. The most appealing sections of the performance are those with relatively thin textures and slower tempi, such as 'Auf der Alm' ('On the Alpine Pastures'). Wit does a reasonably creditable job but he does tend to linger a bit more than I'd prefer. Finally, the symphony is the only work on the CD, adding up to a mere 54 minutes. Even at budget price, this is not much of a bargain.
My own current favorites for the Alpine Symphony are the recent recording by Franz Welser-Möst and the remarkable Mahler Jugendorchester and the performance by David Zinman and the Zurich Tonhalle. I believe the latter is available singly but I have it in the extraordinary box of most of Strauss's orchestral music, a sensational value. And then there is the wonderful long-time favorite of many, the performance by Rudolf Kempe and the Dresden Staatskapelle. I also like, a pleasant surprise to me, the version with Vladimir Ashkenazy conducting the Czech Philharmonic.
So, as the title says, you can do better.
Scott Morrison
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|