BaL 22.01.11 - Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

22nd January, 2011

Am I the happiest, most excited poster on this forum? Quite possibly.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00xmv0n

I first heard Eine Alpensinfonie conducted by Bohm on a Heliodor LP, but this was superceded shortly afterwards by the RPO Kempe. With a work that was rarely played. few recordings and the pocket score out of print, it could be assumed that there was little interest in this work. It was generally slammed by critics as "over-inflated" and "banal", but more and more recordings were issued over the years.

My unfavourites are Dresden/Kempe (wobbly horns) and BPO/Karajan (intonation and aggressive recording).

My favourites are RPO/Kempe and VPO/Previn.

But I'm drooling in anticipation...

[Don Petter]

I was expecting this post soon - and you don't disappoint! Enjoy. as they annoyingly keep telling you these days.

[Petrushka]

The last time this was done on BaL the Karajan came out on top. It is wonderfully played of course (just listen to those horns as they hurl out the Bruch Violin Concerto theme as the summit is reached) and I'm not quite as troubled by the sound as EA is. The magical epilogue is superbly realised in Karajan's recording. I am not as troubled either by the wobbly horns in the Dresden/Kempe recording.

Agree about the VPO/Previn which is a much underrated disc but the RPO/Kempe is in a class apart and is easily my own top choice. It's wonderful that Testament have restored this version to circulation. I am less enraptured by the LSO/Haitink than some but concede that it has to be a major contender in what is now an increasingly crowded field. Other ones in my collection are from Antoni Wit and Horst Stein (both very good), Ozawa (can't get on with this one), Haitink again (in 1985, nothing flash here and all the better for it), Thielemann (like this as well), Jansons (both the Concertgebouw and BBC Welsh discs, again both fine) and last but not least, the composer himself in obviously limited 1941 sonics.

There are some terrific performances here but definitely RPO/Kempe for me. His Straussian credentials are better than anyone bar Karajan and it shows in this riveting performance happily recorded in glorious sound.

[verismissimo]

I think I once had it by Reiner. Or was it a dream?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Verismissimo, it may well have been a dream. This was the one Strauss tone poem of which Reiner had a very low opinion. I'm almost certain he didn't record it.

[Petrushka]

For many years it wasn't even considered to be one of the tone poems. You still occasionally catch Ein Heldenleben being called the last one Strauss composed. Reiner's view was by no means unusual at that time and it wasn't really until Karajan's advocacy in the early 1980's that the recording floodgates suddenly opened.

[doversoul1]

I very much enjoyed the performance in the 2009 Proms by Staatskapelle Dresden, conducted by Fabio Luisi. I don’t know the work at all well but I thought this performance created a wonderful atmosphere for the occasion. Or it may have been the other way round. Either way, I thought it was a memorable performance.

[BBMmk2]

Ah, that was rather a special performance. I do rather like the conductor, Fabio Luisi.
As for recordings go, I don't find the BPO/HvK very aggresive at all.Just goes to show! I have been looking at the Haitink one on LSO LIve(I think). Be good to hear the results opf this one!!

[Mr Pee]

I'm looking forward to this BAL, I must say- but I don't envy the reviewer- I would find it incredibly hard to pick one! My most recently aqquired recording of this wonderful music is by David Zinman with the Zurich Tonhalle orchestra. It's part of a boxed set of Strauss Orchestral music, and, along with the rest of the set, It's pretty darn good. I'm not sure whether it's available seperately or not though.

[Daring Tripod]

I was also at that memorable Prom in 2009 where the Alpine Symphony was marvelously performed by Luisi and the Dresden Staatskapelle Orchestra and I shall never forget that unique atmosphere. We were promised a complete set of Strauss' tone poems by that combination and I wonder if they were all was completed before Luisi (like some of his predecessors) walked out?

I bought the highly recommended Antonini Witt Naxos recording with the Staatskapelle Weimar recording but was bitterly disappointed with the performance. Then the Haitink Chicago recording came along and that was even higher praised and it has the added attraction of 'In Sommerwind' as a filler. Should I go for that? I'll wait till Saturday with great interest.

[Alison]

The Haitink Chicago coupling to Im Sommerwind is Ein Heldenleben.

There are two Haitink Alpines with the Concertgebouw and the LSO. I doubt if the former is available now.

They would be frontrunners for me: maybe the LSO one isn't 'central' enough for a BaL choice.

The Hvk recording is quite aggressive, part of its strength I'd say.

Previn is superb while the winner will most probably be the ultimately boring and glossy Jansons.

That said, I havent checked who is reviewing.

[Petrushka]

Then the Haitink Chicago recording came along and that was even higher praised and it has the added attraction of 'In Sommerwind' as a filler. Should I go for that? I'll wait till Saturday with great interest.

The Haitink Chicago recording is actually Ein Heldenleben, Daring. His LSO recording of the Alpensinfonie garnered some high praise and has to be considered. Great admirer of Haitink though I am I found it a bit low voltage for my taste.

[umslopogaas]

This isnt the world's subtlest music, what recordings need above all is splendid sound quality. I've got five versions, all on vinyl: Svetlanov/USSRSO on Melodiya; Mehta/Los Angeles PO on Decca; Solti/Bavarian Radio SO on Decca; Kempe/Dresden State O on HMV; Kempe/RPO on RCA. Its a long time since I played any of them, but I recall it is the Mehta/LAPO version that really blows your socks off. Decca at their sonic best were pretty unbeatable.

[visualnickmos]

This will be an excellent BaL I'm sure. Of the handfull of CDs I have of Alpen.... my own top choice is Solti/Bavarian Radio SO and Mehta/LAPO..... but I enjoy the others as well. Sometimes it's good to have a bit of a choice

[Petrushka]

...the winner will most probably be Jansons.

Chance for you to reclaim your lost Kauto money, Alison, I'll bet my shirt on RPO/Kempe.