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Site review by Castor April 11, 2007
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Performance: Sonics (MC): |
This SACD of what is arguably Strauss’s finest Tone Poem ticks all the right boxes.
The particularly fine recording, benefiting from the excellent acoustic of Dresden’s Lukaskirche, has richness and depth but also a clarity that captures every detail of this complex score. For example, it is possible to follow all the separate strands of the orchestral introduction with ease, something that is not always the case.
Jan Vogler gives a beautiful reading of the solo cello part and while memories of Fournier, Tortelier and Rostropovich are certainly not banished Vogler is here their equal.
Strauss did not intend the cello part to be played by a star virtuoso (even though the part requires such qualities) but by the leader of the cello section of the orchestra. Since Vogler once held that post with the Dresden Staatskapelle, it is entirely fitting that he should do so here although he is highlighted to some degree by the recorded balance.
I was also particularly impressed by the nutty tone of the solo viola Sebastian Herberg and the humorous characterisation of Sancho Panza in his gossiping interjections to the Don. The (uncredited) bass clarinet and tenor tuba players are equally fine.
As might be expected the wonderful Dresden Staatskapelle play this music with a natural instinct for a Straussian style. The strings are flexible and muscular, the brass incisive and the winds refined.
Fabio Luisi’s supple conducting allows the various episodes in the piece to evolve naturally and without exaggeration and he never allows the music to lapse into sentimentality. At a total time of 40.40 it is closer than most recordings to the 37.29 of Strauss’s own 1933 recording with Enrico Mainardi.
Don Quixote is framed by two early Strauss works, the attractive and richly melodic Romance in F for Cello and Orchestra and the Mendelssohnian Cello Sonata Op.6. Louis Lortie and Jan Vogler play the latter with a winning élan, making it seem a much better piece than is often the case.
Very warmly recommended.
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Copyright © 2007 Graham Williams and SA-CD.net
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Review by Oscar June 9, 2005 (7 of 7 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics (S/MC): / |
This one was a complete surprise. Of course, the Staatskapelle is a great orchestra, and Fabio Luisi a very good conductor. But to get from them one of the best recordings of Don Quixote is rather unexpected.
Jan Vogler, a cellist new to me has a lovely tone. He favours the leaner sound that is much in vogue today. But this makes his reading all the more flexible. Much detail is to be heard from his lyrical reading, that evokes so well the story of the crazy Don Quxote.
The Orchestra under Luisi play like Gods. Of course R.Strauss is in their blood, but rarely this music has sounded so vivid and with so much presence. It has a tactile, immediate quality to it. Luisi, who is great in italian opera, is fast developing into a great conductor in German repertoire.
Sony, who up to now has released Multichannel only SACD´s, releases here a Hybrid SACD that has a superb sound. Spatious, taking full advantage of the famous Lukaskirche accoustics in Dresden.
A real winner.
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