Search - Felix [1] Mendelssohn, Franz [Vienna] Schubert, Clemens Krauss :: Mendelssohn: Midsummer Night's Dream

A real find in the Krauss discography

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 10/26/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Because he died in his early fifties and didn't make it into the stereo era, Clemens Krauss is something of a forgotten figure. With the exception of a famous Bayreuth Ring cycle, a handful of Richard Strauss recordings, and some Strauss family collections, Krauss's wider abilities remain obscured. Here we have an good-sounding Midsummer Night's Dream with the Vienna Sym. that is lush, romantic, and very, very traditional. The music is thrice-familiar, but Krauss plays it suavely and with infectious good humor. In the post-war era the Vienna Sym. declined considerably, but here they sound lovely. The filler is a rarely heard Schuert choral work, Gesang der Geister, that receives a committed, heartfelt reading.



In sum, even though I know nothing about this recording's provenance, it's a great find."