BaL 22.01.11 - Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie

[Richard Tarleton]

4. The RCA RPO/Kempe LP has a that wonderful cover...

I listened to Haitink/Concertgebouw on LP yesterday - it too has the Matterhorn on the cover! Sounds marvellous, but the side-break a pain.....

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

EA, I see you can get it from amazo(from these sellers.........)(The Haitink)

I've slept on it and have decided to bite the bullet. I've paid the rather high price for the Philips Haitink. So I hope it's good.
That makes 12 versions.
In reply to an earler post, I've not heard the Blomstedt.

[Roehre]

Thanks Caliban.

Some time ago I heard Charles Mackerras on the radio tell an anecdote about Strauss. As I recall, Strauss's son had married a jewish woman. Somehow, the three of them were at an event with Hitler, to whom Strauss introduced the couple, who had joined Strauss with understandable reluctance.

Mackerras said that Hitler greeted the woman with a phrase I've now forgotten - something like "Jetzt sind Sie aufge-----..." - meaning that her marriage to Strauss's son somehow made her an honorary Aryan.

Has anyone come across this story? Presumably CM had read it somewhere. I would love to know the precise words Hitler used.

What Hitler actually said has AFAIK not been recorded. The meeting between Alice Strauss (RS's Jewish daughter-in-law), Franz (RS's son), RS himself and Hitler took place during the Bayreuth festival of 1934, and the Strausses and Hitler were introduced by Winifred Wagner. Hitler offered Alice a hand kiss.
Note that this meeting took place before the Nuremberg race laws from 1935, as well as before the Night of the Long Knives of June 1934, and therefore before the Nazi antisemitism had taken over German social and cultural life completely.
I think RS was president of the Reichskulturkammer at that time.

[Petrushka]

A very good BaL from William Mival and after all these years Karajan still manages to comprehensively trounce the opposition. I love RPO/Kempe in this work but think Mival is right about the Karajan. I bought the LP in 1982 and the CD (as a single track!) in 1985 and the recording date is 1981.

Incidentally, I miscounted and actually have 12 versions but think it worthwhile to invest in the re-mixed Karajan.

To the poster who mentioned that Karajan 'doctored' his recording, I believe that he re-recorded the off-stage horns for the CD issue as he was not satisfied with the initial result.

[Don Petter]

I've slept on it and have decided to bite the bullet. I've paid the rather high price for the Philips Haitink. So I hope it's good.

I notice it is available from Arkiv for $13.99 (less than £9) though I don't know what they charge for postage. It's not much, usually, from the States. Has anyone here bought from Arkiv? I haven't, though you read of many that swear by them for difficult to find items.

[StephenO]

Although I enjoyed the extracts from the Karajan recording, Haitink's LSO stroll through the Cotswolds is still the one that, above all others, inspires me to scale the Alpine peaks.

[vinteuil]

I notice it is available from Arkiv for $13.99 (less than £9) though I don't know what they charge for postage. It's not much, usually, from the States. Has anyone here bought from Arkiv? I haven't, though you read of many that swear by them for difficult to find items.

I have had happy experiences here, p'tickly in getting the Levin/Hogwood Mozart pno ctos...

[Threni]

What won? Looks like people have gone off on one on this thread!

I have Zinman's recording which I will listen to tomorrow with my score which is due to arrive.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

A very good BaL from William Mival and after all these years Karajan still manages to comprehensively trounce the opposition. I love RPO/Kempe in this work but think Mival is right about the Karajan.

In view of what has been said, I'll certainly give the remixed Karajan a fair trial. As for "comprehensively trouncing the opposition", that may be an overstatement, even after making allowances for any improvements in sound. There are issues of poor intonation that I found most off-putting - far worse than the odd split note in the RPO/Kempe.
But the Concertgebouw/Haitink may well live up to its reputation...

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

What won? Looks like people have gone off on one on this thread!

BPO/Karajan

[kernelbogey]

What Hitler actually said has AFAIK not been recorded.....

Roehre - many thanks. The dating is interesting. I'm pretty sure that CM 'quoted' Hitler - but who knows where that came from?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I was discussing this thread this afternoon with young Alpensinfonie, to whom I gave my EMI 9CD Kempe Strauss orchestral works box set. Realising my obsession, he very kindly returned the Eine Alpensinfonie disc to add to my growing collection (which I know is getting rather silly - soon to be 13 versions).
I just hope next week's BAL (Liszt) doesn't have the same effect.

[makropulos]

Threni - if you want the score sooner it's available free as a PDF on imslp: http://imslp.org/wiki/Eine_Alpensinf...rauss,_Richard)

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

...but bear in mind that Strauss's work is still in copyright in the EU.

[Estelle]

I can supply an example of postage charged by ArchivMusic. I recently sent a single disc ($17.99) to the U.K. The postage was $7.99.