Fabio Luisi's Strauss SACDs from Dresden

[Karafan]

Hi all

All this recent talk of Eine Alpensinfonie under Thielemann** got me to thinking about Luisi's output from Dresden. I enjoyed his Heldenleben, but do you have views on his Alpensinfonie or his 2 SACD set of Don Juan, Aus Italien & Don Quixote (the reviews for this set were rather tepid as I recall)?

(**Thielemann purchased following your glowing encomiums!!)

Karafan

[akiralx]

The Alpensinfonie is superb in excellent sound, my favourite by far among those I have (Karajan, Haitink I, Kempe, Mehta I, Sinopoli). The 2SACD set is not so good performance-wise I believe - I don't have it.

Are you recommending CT's SACD or bluray for the Alpine?

[Karafan]

Are you recommending CT's SACD or bluray for the Alpine?

It's the CD which has been recommended on the the thread about Thielemann's metronome. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Richard-Str...8279661&sr=8-1

[amateur51]

Hi all

All this recent talk of Eine Alpensinfonie under Thielemann** got me to thinking about Luisi's output from Dresden. I enjoyed his Heldenleben, but do you have views on his Alpensinfonie or his 2 SACD set of Don Juan, Aus Italien & Don Quixote (the reviews for this set were rather tepid as I recall)?

(**Thielemann purchased following your glowing encomiums!!)

Karafan

Best to put them in a bucket of sand & phone the Fire Brigade, Karafan

[Karafan]

Best to put them in a bucket of sand & phone the Fire Brigade, Karafan

Absolutely not, Ammy! They're the only thing providing me with any heat tonight!

[akiralx]

You should also be considering Shipway's new SACD on BIS for the Alpine according to Gramophone, IRR, SACD.net....

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Couldn't possibly comment on the SACDs, though I have most of them as hybrids (not the Haitink, for which I have only the stereo version).

[BBMmk2]

Karajan and Mehta I, I have. So this could be a scorcher, then?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Karajan and Mehta I, I have. So this could be a scorcher, then?

Luisi is better than either, in my opinion - similar in interpretation to Karajan's, and as well recorded at Mehta's. That's saying something...

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

If anyone's interested, I'm doing a comparative review of every recording of Eine Alpensinfonie. So far, I've covered the period 1925 to 1980 (acoustic to first digital), plus a few later ones , including Luisi.
Anyone who could sell/lend me Bohm 1939, Alsop, Svetlanov or Choo Hoey (reputed by Wikipedia to exist) would be a friend for life.

[akiralx]

I have just bought the Sao Paolo SO/Shipway SACD on BIS so will report back after listening on the Stax headphones, and compare with the Luisi which I know very well.

[Karafan]

I have just bought the Sao Paolo SO/Shipway SACD on BIS so will report back after listening on the Stax headphones, and compare with the Luisi which I know very well.

I will look forward to that.....

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I have just bought the Sao Paolo SO/Shipway SACD on BIS so will report back after listening on the Stax headphones, and compare with the Luisi which I know very well.

As I said earlier, I don't have SACD equipment, which I now think might be a mistake. Prompted by akiralx, I listened to Shipman's Sao Poalo recording this evening, and I was indeed blown away by it. The recorded sound (in mere stereo) is quite staggering and the interpretation is surly the one that Barbirolli would have given. Not everyone will like the weeping violin portamenti in the "sunset" and "epilogue" sections, but I loved it. The Sao Paolo SO may not be the Berlin Philharmonic, but they play much better than that orchestra did for Karajan.
I have so many favourite versions, but for today at least Shipman is at the top of the tree, eclipsing even Luisi, Kempe/RPO, Thielemann and Horst Stein. And believe, me, that's saying something.

[richardfinegold]

As I said earlier, I don't have SACD equipment, which I now think might be a mistake. Prompted by akiralx, I listened to Shipman's Sao Poalo recording this evening, and I was indeed blown away by it. The recorded sound (in mere stereo) is quite staggering and the interpretation is surly the one that Barbirolli would have given. Not everyone will like the weeping violin portamenti in the "sunset" and "epilogue" sections, but I loved it. The Sao Paolo SO may not be the Berlin Philharmonic, but they play much better than that orchestra did for Karajan.
I have so many favourite versions, but for today at least Shipman is at the top of the tree, eclipsing even Luisi, Kempe/RPO, Thielemann and Horst Stein. And believe, me, that's saying something.

Good SACD players or Universal Players can be bouth second hand here for $100. Sony's budget Blu Ray players will play SACDs but not well (I own one).

I just listened to Ozawa on DVD-Audio yesterday. Interpretively and sonically, I much prefer Previn on Telarc.

[akiralx]

I have listened to Luisi and Shipway today in stereo SACD, and agree that the latter is very fine, superbly well played and recorded - though I think the rather closer balance (than Luisi's) does emphasise the powerhouse nature of the performance.

Luisi's interpretation does bring out the spiritual element of the work much more, which is why I do prefer his version, and the recorded sound which is more atmospheric (at least via Stax earspeakers). One example is in 'The Ascent' where the offstage brass sound more realistically with Luisi.

Interestingly Shipway takes longer than Luisi over the post-storm sections, and plays it most beautifully (the organ is very well integrated in both versions in the 'Ausklang' section) but the minor point concerning the portamenti which I did also notice detracts slightly for me. Luisi and the Dresden orchestra are in their element here - if you subscribe as one critic did to the view that the work is 'forty minutes of dreck followed by 10 of sheer genius' then the latter is done better by Luisi. I've no idea how familiar the Sao Paolo orchestra were with this work (they play it superbly) but one gets the feeling the Dresdeners have it in their bones.

I can't comment on the multichannel aspect, and of course Shipway's unusual coupling of the Die Frau Fantasy may make it more appealing (Luisi offers the Four Last Songs).