BaL 21.09.24 - Strauss: Don Quixote

[smittims]

Well, that's more than I knew, makropoulos! Thanks.

[mikealdren]

I bought the Szell/Cleveland lp at that time and per Petrushka the performance is crystal clear about the events being depicted. The bleating sheep, the Friars being attacked, the wind machine, all marvelous. And the beautiful ending where the Don has a brief moment of lucidity before dying is so moving without being cloying.

I too bought the Szell LP and now have a CD reissue. It's still my favourite recording.

[gurnemanz]

It's often played as a concerto , a vehicle for a virtuoso, whereas I believe Strauss said it should be played by the orchestra's own principal, as primus inter pares.

The only version I have in which this is the case is the very enjoyable Toscanini live from Carnegie Hall in 1953, with the NBC Orchestra and its principal cellist, Frank Miller.

For many years I had only one recording, LP then CD, the famous Kempe/Dresden/Tortelier. I am very pleased also to have the "accidental" Boult/du Pré/NPO via the Warner du Pré box. It was put together from rehearsal tapes and includes Boult's "Bravo" and orchestra applause at the end. We are lucky that an engineer happened to press the record button.

[smittims]

Sir Thomas Beecham also played it to feature his orchestral principals, notably at the 1956 Edinburgh festival, where the soloists were John Kennedy and Frederick Riddle, a persformance that has survived on disc and issued in CD by SOMM.

[vinteuil]

I had a go at the Cervantes some years ago when a much-praised new translation came out. I managed to get all the way through the first book but then motivation slackened off and various bits of life got in the way...

... I think this is the case with very many of us. I have acquired over the years quite a few translations of the Quixote, from Motteux/Ozell through to Grossman. I still give up each time, yes, probably by the end of the first book....

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[makropulos]

... I think this is the case with very many of us. I have acquired over the years quite a few translations of the Quixote, from Motteux/Ozell through to Grossman. I still give up each time, yes, probably by the end of the first book....

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I got considerably further with Grossman's translation than with any of her predecessors. One of these days I may even get to the end...

[oliver sudden]

... I think this is the case with very many of us. I have acquired over the years quite a few translations of the Quixote, from Motteux/Ozell through to Grossman. I still give up each time, yes, probably by the end of the first book....

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Since Cervantes didn’t even plan a second book until he had to see off the imitators (if I’ve understood correctly), stopping at the end of the first seems only fair.

[smittims]

I'm relieved to find I'm not the only person who failed to get past the first few pages of Cervantes' famous novel (though to be fair, it may suffer in translation). Similarly, I've never been a fan of Tristram Shandy or Mervyn Peake. It seems 'that kind of book' just doesn't appeal to me.

[Sunny_Hobart]

The performance by Perenyi and Ferencsik on Hungaroton is compelling and nicely recorded. I have that on LP and in some ways I like it better than Rostropovich BPO Karajan (EMI CD). Many years ago I owned an LP of the Janigro Reiner performance - I listened to samples on Presto recently and it did not live up to my memory of the LP. I will explore some of the other recordings recommended here.

[Wolfram]

The performance by Perenyi and Ferencsik on Hungaroton is compelling and nicely recorded. I have that on LP and in some ways I like it better than Rostropovich BPO Karajan (EMI CD). Many years ago I owned an LP of the Janigro Reiner performance - I listened to samples on Presto recently and it did not live up to my memory of the LP. I will explore some of the other recordings recommended here.

I thought the same thing about the Reiner too. His ‘ride through the air’ is terrific, but the rest lacks the charm and subtly that (many) others find. It was the first recording that I owned on LP.

[smittims]

I must defend the Janigro /Reiner, if only for variation Five, which is played lovingly, esepcially the last eight bars .

[Wolfram]

I must defend the Janigro /Reiner, if only for variation Five, which is played lovingly, esepcially the last eight bars .

I will give Reiner another listen before the BaL. For what it’s worth I listened to it after listening to Karajan/Fournier and before the various Kempe/Tortelier versions. I have a suspicion when listening to multiple recordings of the same piece in quick succession that the order in which you listen to them matters hugely. As I said the Reiner LP was the recording I grew up with, only adding the Dresden Kempe several years later. I was a bit disappointed with it this time around, but I suspect that if I had just played it in isolation, then I would have felt it to be as marvellous as I did when I was a teenager.

I’ve listened to nine recordings of Don Quixote over the past few weeks and the ones that have stuck in the memory are Kempe in Dresden, Karajan with Fournier (didn’t like his 1987 recording at all and don’t know the EMI Rostropovich), Reiner/Janigro and Zinman. The later a proper ensemble effort, so much better for not being treated as a glorified cello concerto.

[smittims]

Karajan /Fournier is wonderful, (and what a marvellous sleeve illustration!) and also Fournier/Krauss, an old Decca LP produced in Vienna by Victor Olof.

[Pulcinella]

Karajan /Fournier is wonderful, (and what a marvellous sleeve illustration!) and also Fournier/Krauss, an old Decca LP produced in Vienna by Victor Olof.

Whereas in this, also a Karajan recording, the Don looks like he's taking a selfie!

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8048406--r-strauss-don-quixote-op-35-till-eulenspiegel-op-28

[smittims]

Yes, Herbert's later recordings were often less memorable. Who values his second Rosenkavailer and Aida above his first?