Search - Strauss, Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan :: Strauss: Metamorphosen/Tod und Verklarung (Metamorphoses/Death and Transfiguration)

Absolutely Stunning

cmk | Oregon | 12/02/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I first heard Metamorphosen via Karajan's first recording, reissued on DG's originals series with his earlier Tod und Verklärung and Vier letzte lieder. The earlier recording is very good, but when I heard that Karajan even topped himself on this later recording, I couldn't hesitate to pick it up. It turns out the general opinion of this recording is correct. The performance is absolutely stunning, with just a little more dramatic pulse and greater clarity of string texture than the earlier performance. Also the sound is better. This CD rightly was assigned a Rosette in the Penguin Guide.



In the CD liner, it says that Strauss wrote Metamorphosen in response to the near total destruction of the city of Dresden during WWII, including many of its concert halls in which Strauss premiered many of his works. Scored for 23 strings, the music is profoundly emotional, simultaneously beautiful and tragic. The CD liner article also describes Strauss's string writing from a purely technical standpoint as "masterly in the extreme" and I could not have described it better myself. It is easily my favorite thing by Strauss, a much finer piece of music than even his more famous Also Sprach Zarathustra, IMHO.



Karajan was perhaps the finest interpreter of Strauss who has ever yet lived, and he pretty much owns this work. The Berlin Philharmonic responds superbly with string playing of the utmost refinement and power. The Tod und Verklärung is also magnificent and shares the same qualities as the Metamorphosen, but the disc is well worth the cost just for the Metamorphosen. The sound is good early digital, not quite as fine as the best modern digital, but more than adequate in conveying the performances. This CD is a little spendy but it is well worth every penny. Buy it from an Amazon Marketplace seller for cheaper if you have to, but whatever you do, just buy it!"

Transcendent Strauss from Karajan, in excellent sound

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 03/03/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Listening to these spellbinding performances made me wonder if in fifty years Karajan will still be viewed as a lesser conductor than Furtwangler. The Metamorphosen is played with supernatural ensemble by the strings of the Berlin Phil.--Furtwangler never built up th orchestra to nearly this level. Karajan's phrasing in Tod und Verklarung shows unsurpassed delicacy and instinctive musicality--Furtwangler had both qualities in abundance, but he doesn't excel Karajan here.



These recordings date from 1983 and come in excellent digital sound without bite or edginess in the upper registers. I think Metamorphosen, inspired by Strauss's grief over the destruction of beloved oepra houses in Munich and Dresden by Allied bombing, is spiritually deeper than Death and Transfiguration, which has more than a touch of sentimental hokum. But Karajan raises them both to the same level through his integrity and astonishing technique. In all, this is one of his transcendent Strauss CDs, a composer whose music Karajan had mastered completely."

Very Famous Strauss Metamophosen plus Death and Transfigurat

dv_forever | Michigan, USA | 11/07/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is one of Herbert von Karajan's greatest recordings from his last decade, the 1980's. This album won the Gramophone orchestral record of the year award and it has always received the coveted Penguin Guide "Rosette Award" in every edition of that publication. I want to state first of all that this performance of Death and Transfiguration has been remastered and re-released on a different CD. It was re-released on Karajan Gold, catalog number 439 039-2, coupled with Karajan's digital Ein Heldenleben.



That Karajan Gold disc has much better sound in Death and Transfiguration than the CD you are looking at here. Please if you want to hear Karajan's greatest Death and Transfiguration, ( yes this one from the 1980's ), go buy that Karajan Gold disc with it's great sound. However, the Metamorphosen on this CD, to the best of my knowledge, has never been remastered, it's always been available here. The sound is fine, early digital, there is no glassiness or digital edge but there is also an overriding smoothness in texture. I know that this is primarily a Karajan attribute and not just the recording's fault but if DG ever decides to remaster this Metamophosen, they are really going to have a winner on their hands. Basically the sound is a bit too soft-grained for my liking.



The performance itself is masterful, in a category of it's own, this Metamorphosen is Karajan's greatest and the only competition I have ever found for it is Furtwangler's recording from 1947. Furtwangler is faster than Karajan but Karajan compensates with just as much emotion and utterly stunning string virtuosity which has never been surpassed. Get Furtwangler and Karajan, you won't regret it, they are the pinnacle in the recorded history of this Strauss masterpiece. Karajan's Death and Transfiguration is magnificient too, possibly the best ever, just do yourself a favor and get it on the remastered Karajan Gold CD if you want to hear Karajan's interpretation given full justice by great engineering."