Richard 1 Strauss Klaus Tennstedt London Philharmonic Orchestra - Strauss Also Sprach Zarathustra (14 tracks) +Album Reviews

Lucia Popp!!!

Andre | Twin Cities, MN | 12/29/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"She is my only reason to buy this disk, although the other recordings (the Also Sprach Zarathustra and Don Juan) are quite nicely done. Lucia did two recordings that I know of of the Four Last Songs. One with Tennstedt, and one with Michael Tilson Thomas. This one is with Tennstedt and is by far the best version she did, not to mention ever done on recordings. Period. Here she was fresh voiced, so artistic, so insightful, and so masterful with how to take advantage of Richard Strauss' beautiful score. No other singer comes close... not Schwarzkopf, not Janowitz, and yes, not even Fleming. Tennstedt conducts everything beautifully and pays close attention to every detail. I guarantee it is the most magical Four Last Songs you have ever heard!!! I'd recommend the original release, the one with "Death and Configuration," but unfortunately it is hard to find that CD. I have it though!All in all, this is singing on its highest level, as though from heaven... Not enough superlatives can be used. Many critics, colleagues, and teachers with whom I have spoken and given this CD to listen to, say they haven't heard better. I trust their opinion and at this bargain-basement price, you can easily take a gamble and trust my advice. Buy it! You won't be disappointed."

Don't miss this

Daryl Bullis | Albany, NY USA | 06/13/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is one of those gems that should not be missed. This is a recording that has been lurking in EMI's budget catalog for years, and now reappears in an even cheaper re-release. This cd would be worth it alone for the Also Sprach Zarathustra, but the addition of the Don Juan, and the Vier Letzte Lieder make this a cd that should grace everyone's collection.

The Zarathustra is powerful indeed, Tennstedt's rendering of a fascinating score highlighted by terse and powerful efforts from all sections of this amazing orchestra. I had been "hooked" on Karajan's early 80's rendering for years, but this cd has won me over completely.

The Vier Letzte Lieder cap this cd perfectly with an outstanding performance by Lucia Popp. What I originally thought would be a voice too light for this, I looked back at similar "light" voices who have done very well with this (e.g. Gundula Janowitz). Tennstedt masters the orchestra perfectly to complement Popp, who takes Hesse's and von Eichendorff's poetry to their musical heights. A penetrating, powerful, and beautiful recording...and [at this price], how can you resist?

All praise to Tennstedt, his orchestra, Lucia Popp, EMI, and to Strauss himself."

You'd be crazy not to get this

William Ellis | Atlanta, GA USA | 03/07/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Tennstedt had a fairly brief heyday, in which he was celebrated mostly for his Mahler recordings. He was a very fine Straussian too, and rather quietly accumulated several fine Strauss performances when he had the LPO at their best. This Zarathustra stands among the best, with Tennstedt emphasizing the lyric beauty and long line of Strauss, all to the work's benefit.

Don Juan has received many good recordings and this is one of them. I stayed engaged through this whole performance, though, as a passionate Strauss lover, I am ashamed to admit I sometimes wander during Don Juan because I've heard it so many times.

Ahh, but the clencher: I had the privilege of hearing Lucia Popp sing the 4 Last Songs in Los Angeles, Giulini conducting, shortly after she made this recording. I agree with Andre - this is the recording I'd take to the desert island. She and Tennstedt are as one, and her total involvement in the meaning of the music, her infinite range of nuance, and the plaintive beauty of her voice combine in a 4 Last Songs for the ages. As cliched as it is, if ever there was art that conceals art, Popp had it. Every time I hear this performance I feel that she and Tennstedt are sharing their deepest experiences and their love of Strauss with me.

By the way, I have the original CD issue too, and the remastering on this disc has solved some of the problems with the early digital sound.

All this for $6.99."

Some real depth

HB | Fort Mill, SC | 08/09/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Also Sprach became famous because of its use in the movie "2001".

Since that famous movie came out, it has been recorded more times than the music really deserves. It is a masterpiece but I would rank it behind most of the other Strauss tone poems. It is just a tad on the shallow side. But this recording by the great conductor Klaus Tennstedt, gives the music much more depth than it usually gets. He really takes the music seriously and I really enjoyed this performance. Don Juan also gets an outstanding performance. And what more can you say about Lucia Popp? She was simply a magnificent singer and a real artist. Her performance of the Four Last Songs is just breathtaking. If you reprogram this CD to play Don Juan first and Also Sprach last, you have a real concert program, soloist and all. At the budget price, this CD is a steal. A must for every classical music lover."

A capricious conductor triumphs in Zarathustra

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 04/27/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Klaus Tennstedt was a mercurial musician who could surprise you with one-of-a-kind performances where every bar seemed to spring spontaneously from his imagination--he had that in common with Mitropoulos before him. This Zarathustra is one of his most delightful, puckish interpretations, all the more wonderful because the work is such a bloated relic in the concert hall. Vulgarized by the movie 2001 and pumped up to titanic size by Karajan, Zarathustra needed someone to restore its Nietzschean character. That was Strauss's point, after all. Tennstedt's completley unpredictable reading does full justrice to the most unpredictable of philosophers.

The recording is full and brilliant without being bombastic (the famous opening moments are sonically dull, though), and the London Phil. plays with a rare abandon, totally in accord with their conductor. The fillers are generous, a Don Juan released at the same time as the Zarathustra in 1990, and a Four Last Songs made some years earlier. As you'd expect, the Don Juan is leaner and more etched than Karajan's several versions. Tennstedt doesn't try to make the work an orchestral showpiece, and despite its over-familiarity, he finds freshness from bar to bar. Like the Zarathustra, the performance has a great deal of inner life and stands high among all current versions.

Other reviewers here rhapsodize over Lucia Popp's Four Last Songs, which were overshadowed at their release by the opulent version from Jessye Norman. Popp's voice had darkened enough to sound credible in this music (she was basically a light coloratura), but there is a fast beat in her voice, and she fails to articulate the poetry at all, being more intent, like Janowitz, in making beautiful sounds even when the listener cannot pick up a single word of text. If you don't mind the loss (I certainly do) Popp's reading is ravishing, and Tennstedt offers superb accompaniment. I will listen to this performance again for his contribution more than hers."

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