Richard Strauss dirigiert eigene Tondichtungen vol.2 (3 CD, FLAC)

Composer: Richard Strauss
Performer: Richard Strauss
Orchestra: Wiener Philharmoniker
Conductor:
Audio CD
SPARS Code: AAD
Number of Discs: 3
Format: APE (image+cue)
Label: Preiser Records
Size: 648 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes

Don Juan
Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche
Also sprach Zarathustra
Ein Heldenleben
Der Bürger als Edelmann
Tod und Verklärung
Sinfonia Domestica

Strauss conducts Strauss in concert. Vienna 1944.

Strauss at 80 conducts his own music with fervour in concerts recorded of that great city of musical offerings, Vienna. Younger contemporaries among the conducting fraternity, Furtwangler and Knappertsbusch for example, were always better heard live, so there’s surely some sense in prefering this concert trio over studio sessions, often older, available elsewhere. Strauss for his public.

A tad noisy but full of atmosphere, the atmosphere of a special occasion, not to mention the authority of a respected conductor-composer (fans of Britten amongst others won’t care for Preiser’s Deutsch-centric statement about Mahler & Strauss being the last of this breed of musician). Notes provided are biographical and nothing more – no tracklistings or track-timings in the booklet, no info on the music, no programmatic indexing: Preiser’s presentation is a bit disappointing. Nonetheless, what you do get is the thrill of Strauss in his element, cooking up a feast of symphonic drama with refinement and discretion. Don Juan, Till, Ein Heldenleben, Zarathustra, etc. given the benefit of authority and a lifetime’s conducting experience.

2014 is the 150th anniversary of his birth and you might want to celebrate with the man himself.