A spectacular disk
11/07/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This CD is like a culmination of everthing Blomstedt did for the San Francisco Symphony on record. There has been much criticism about the acoustics of Davies Symphony Hall, but on record its opulence is highly suited to the music of Richard Strauss. The Ruffatti organ was the largest concert hall organ in America at the time of its installation and the recording engineers capture its 32' rank remarkably (subwoofer sold separately). Blomstedt has been a distinguished Strauss interpreter for some time, and this recording is yet another demonstration of this. Also Sprach is clean and spacious, Death and Transfiguration is a model of orchestral balance, and Till Eulenspiegel is full of wit and virtuosity. Chicago Symphony fans might have to give it up this once!"
A sonic spectacular and a tribute to Blomstedt
Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 05/24/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The San Francisco Sym. was an also-ran among American orchestras for decades, despite its importation of major conductors like Pierre Monteux and Seiji Ozawa. It took the workmanlike Blomstedt, a great orchestra builder if not interpreter, to birng out their full potential. Today, in the acoustically renovated Davies Hall under Tilson Thomas, culture hero of the city, the SFS continues to sound almost as good as the country's premiere ensembles.
On this Strauss spectacular from 1994-95 Blomstedt loses a lot of his customary inhibitions and produces riveting readings caught in the best possible sound. For Zarathustra Decca gives us a huge dynamic range, tremendous vividness, and X ray-like detail. You find yourself thrust onstage beside the podium. It's an artificial perspective, but Strauss's gorgeously grandiose music can take it--the only competitors that come close are Telarc's Strauss tone poems under Previn with the Vienna Phil. The aural perspective there is more distant, so if you want to be right in the thick of things, this Decca collection fits the bill."
Blomstedt And The San Francisco Symphony At Their Very Best
Erik North | San Gabriel, CA USA | 07/12/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Dating back to his time as the chief conductor of the Dresden State Orchestra, Herbert Blomstedt has always been a supreme interpreter of Richard Strauss' music, and this recording of three of Strauss' famous symphonic tone poems that he made in the mid 90s with the San Francisco Symphony is proof of that.Blomstedt and the orchestra shine in all three works--"Also Sprach Zarathustra"; "Death And Transfiguration"; and "Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks." The wit of "Eulenspiegel" is bought out quite well by the orchestra; and the metaphysical beauty of "Transfiguration" is something truly to behold, with a very poignant conclusion. And the orchestra doesn't miss a trick with "Zarathustra", which had become a staple of the classical repertoire after director Stanley Kubrick's cagey use of the opening sequence in his 1968 sci-fi masterpiece 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY. For all the talk about the much-vaunted 1954 recording by Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony, this "Zarathustra" recording matches and, arguably, even exceeds it.The recording marked the end of this ten-year orchestra/conductor combine in which the San Francisco Symphony had become one of America's best, and Blomstedt one of the finest conductors working today. Pick it up; you won't be sorry that you did."
Track Listings (11) - Disc #1