Composer: Richard Strauss
Orchestra: Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks
Conductor: Mariss Jansons
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: BR Klassik
Catalogue: 900148
Release: 2016
Size: 760 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Eine Alpensinfonie, Op. 64
01. No. 1, Nacht
02. No. 2, Sonnenaufgang
03. No. 3, Der Anstieg
04. No. 4, Eintritt in den Wald
05. No. 5, Wanderung neben dem Bach
06. No. 6, Am Wasserfall
07. No. 7, Erscheinung
08. No. 8, Auf blumige Wiesen
09. No. 9, Auf der Alm
10. No. 10, Durch Dickicht und Gestrüpp auf Irrwegen
11. No. 11, Auf dem Gletscher
12. No. 12, Gefahrvolle Augenblicke
13. No. 13, Auf dem Gipfel
14. No. 14, Vision
15. No. 15, Nebel steigen auf
16. No. 16, Die Sonne verdüstert sich allmählich
17. No. 17, Elegie
18. No. 18, Stille vor dem Sturm
19. No. 19, Gewitter und Sturm, Abstieg
520. No. 20, Sonnenuntergang
21. No. 21, Ausklang
22. No. 22, Nacht
23. Tod und Verklärung, Op. 24
Mariss Jansons and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra have recorded the tone poems of Richard Strauss for BR Klassik since 2010, and they have already presented the popular Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche (Till Eulenspiegels Merry Pranks), Don Juan, and Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life), in impressive performances for the German label. This 2016 album offers two more Strauss favorites, the musical representation of a mountain hike, Eine Alpensinfonie (An Alpine Symphony), and the moving depiction of a man’s last moments, Tod und Verklärung (Death and Transfiguration). These works reflect dramatically different sides of Strauss, where the virtuosic music and opulent orchestration of Eine Alpensinfonie suggest a robust extroversion, while the deathbed ruminations of Tod und Verklärung and its final vision of transcendence are more introspective. Jansons elicits powerful playing from the orchestra, and draws out resplendent sonorities that are thrilling for their brilliance and force. Yet Strauss’ softer music may hold more expressive depth, particularly the tone painting of “Night” at the beginning of Ein Alpensinfonie, and the fragile, hesitant opening of Tod und Verklärung, which are among the subtlest and most affecting passages in all of Strauss’ works. The sound of this standard CD is rich and vibrant, and practically every detail can be heard clearly.
At the age of just fifteen, the budding composer Richard Strauss (1864-1949) lost his way during a summer hike on the Heimgarten in the Bavarian Alps, and ended up in a thunderstorm. The next day, he fantasized about the experience on the piano. – Twenty years later, that memory had matured into a concept describing a one-day hike in the form of a symphonic poem, and in 1915 – a further fifteen years later – Strauss finally completed his masterpiece. The hike begins in the darkness before dawn, and after sunrise the ascent goes through a forest, past a stream and a waterfall, through meadows and pastures, and up to a glacier. The hiker then loses his way, and after several risky moments arrives at the summit, where he also experiences a vision. The weather then suddenly worsens, and the descent is accompanied by heavy rain and fierce thunderstorms. The eventful day – summarized in just sixty minutes of music – ends with a sunset, and darkness returns.
“An Alpine Symphony” is probably Strauss’ most famous symphonic poem. Its content is easily understandable, and the work became especially well-known for its gigantic orchestra. The music is far from heavy-handed, however, with many of the passages orchestrated like chamber music. Like a kind of greeting from the Bavarian Alps, as it were, the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks and its chief conductor Mariss Jansons have placed this masterpiece, and the music of Richard Strauss in general, on the programme of their forthcoming tour of Asia in late 2016. The live recording of “Alpine Symphony” concerts planned for October 2016 in Munich’s Philharmonie im Gasteig is enhanced on this latest CD from BR-KLASSIK by the addition of Strauss’ symphonic poem “Death and Transfiguration”, first performed in 1890; the recording here is of concerts performed in Munich in February 2014. – We thus have two very recent interpretations of two of this great German composer’s most important tone poems on one CD.
Live-Recording Munich, Philharmonie im Gasteig 10.2016 (Alpine Symphony); 02.2014 (Death and Tr.)