Search - Richard [1] Strauss, Richard [Classical] Wagner, Herbert von Karajan :: Strauss: Till Eulenspiegel; Don Juan; Wagner: Tannhäuser - Venusberg Music

Recording dates

Wade Lewis | orlando | 09/28/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"FYI the recording dates for this issue are:

Don Juan (4 December 1951), Death and Transfiguration (3 July 1953), Till Eulespeigel (4 December 1951) and Venusberg Music (7 October 1954). So regardless of how good the sound is, it is still MONO, not stereo for all the items. Just be aware. you wont be disappointed in the performances themselves."

Till Was Never More Menacing (Nor Funnier)

J. F. Laurson | Washington, DC United States | 03/17/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you are willing to even consider spending $23 on a re-issue of a 1950s recording, you will be happy to know that this particular disc will reward with what must be one of the finest versions of Till Eulenspiegel ever put on record (and I have my fair share of them - Kempe, Boehm, Zinman, various later Karajan versions, et al.). The sound is stunning given the recording date and very good, even held up to modern standards. Plush strings, exquisite pacing, great rhythmic energy in the Philharmonia's playing... it stands out like a golden thumb among rival versions. There isn't yet the 'wall of sound' that later gives later Karajan versions their controversial fame, but pure vigor. It is immediately audible why the young conductor was hyped so much at the time.



Don Juan, too, is marvelous, if not quite as well captured in sound. A little bit more romantic swagger than Kempe but far from cloying, it's an eminently desirable rendition. The same could be said for Tannhaeuser Venusberg music (Paris version)... although all the exoticisms of the music make, upon repeated listening, a good case for why Cosima (and others) prefer unextended Dresden version.



The price and age of the recordings may prevent this from being a first choice; the quality of the interpretations and playing, however, should prove too seductive to resist for the Strauss-obsessed.



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