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Site review by Castor February 12, 2007
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Performance: Sonics (MC): |
A live recording of Ein Heldenleben played by one of the finest European orchestras with a long Straussian tradition under one of the great conductors of our time must be an outright winner mustn’t it?
Well no, actually.
Although it has many sterling qualities in the final analysis this recording fails to reach my (too high?) expectations.
In spite of the superb orchestral playing by the Concertgebouw orchestra the performance just never fully catches fire. It has all the purring smoothness of a well-oiled machine, avoiding any sense of risk and danger. Those who sometimes criticise Karajan for his elimination of rough edges in his recordings should hear this one!
The first section (Der Held) is pretty impressive, showing great attack by the lower strings and horns in the opening bars and vividly conjuring up the virile hero of the work’s title.
However, the critics as depicted here (Des Helden Widersacher), seem to be a rather tame group quite unlike the vicious and spiteful characters on Fritz Reiner’s version, and in the central part of this section Jansons relaxes the tempo too much, luxuriating in the undeniable beauty of the string playing. With the arrival of Mrs. Strauss (Des Helden Gefährtin) we have the violin solos played deftly and well characterised by Alexander Kerr. The soloist is recorded in perfect perspective with the orchestra without any of the highlighting found on so many other recordings. In this long section of the work Jansons again tends to slow down too much eventually creating an air of somnolence.
The offstage fanfares preceding the battle music (Des Helden Walstatt) are cautious rather than confrontational, although they are suitably distant, perhaps even too much so. This exciting and complex section is well handled by the recording and Jansons builds the music to a thrilling climax, but then unaccountably slows down, where others press forward, to reach the quote of the horn theme from Don Juan.
In the final two sections of the work (Des Heldens Friedenswerke and Des Heldens Weltflucht und Vollendung) Jansons’ approach comes into its own with orchestral playing of such beauty and sensitivity that I doubt could be bettered.
Unfortunately, in the final bars, he vulgarises the ending by the addition of a second thwack on the bass drum not present on any other recording of the work that I know. Why?
At first, I was disappointed with the quality of the recording, which seemed too bass rich and lacked presence, placing the listener quite far back in the hall. However, increasing the volume control quite considerably caused everything to snap into place and a very handsome sound was achieved. The surround channels add further bloom to the sumptuous acoustic.
My comparisons for this review have been made with a number of different versions including those listed below whose overall timings may be of interest and provide some guidance to their conductor’s differing approaches.
Thielemann - Vienna PO - DGG (47.06)
Oue - Minnesota Orchestra - Reference Recordings (45.39)
Jansons – Concertgebouw - RCO Live (45.27)
Kempe - Dresden Staatskapelle - (44.12)
Reiner - Chicago SO - Living Stereo (43.39)
R Strauss - Bayerisches Staatsorchester (rec. 1941) - DGG (39.28)
Reiner’s amazing 1954 performance captures every facet of this miraculous score like no other, and in the Living Stereo SACD re-mastering wears its years lightly. It is still the version to buy.
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Copyright © 2007 Graham Williams and SA-CD.net
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Review by mwagner1962 April 12, 2005 (8 of 10 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics: |
I have to disagree 100% with the previous review. I find the sound to be just fine, and the horns are not "relegated" to the background as the horns ARE in the background, as ALL horns in EVERY orchestra are in the BACK of the orchestra...unless you like the grossly over mike Deutsche Gramophone recordings that give unrealistic or over miked sounds.
The tempo is somewhat more laid back than my RCA Living Stereo SACD with Reiner and Chicago, but I still find it to be just fine in comparison. The brass and winds all play with their regular superb style, and once again shows why the Concertgebouw Orchestra is one of the world's top orchestras!!
Angst over any reverberation in this recording?? Sorry, but this comes with the territory in dealing with every recording ever made in the Grote Zaal in the Concertgebouw. The DG Mahler recordings with Bernstein have some of it (though their usual too closed miking kills some of it), the Decca SACDs and redbook Mahler symphonies with Chailly have the same reverb. The older Haitink Shostakovich symphonies have it. If you do not like some reverb, do not buy recordings of the RCOA.
I found no need to constantly adjust the volume, as one setting had it fine for both extremes. I therefore find the volume to be peachy.
I will recommend this to anyone, and I will continue to buy future RCOA Live SACDs, as this recording is as satisfying as the Dvorák Symphony No. 9 that Mariss Jansons did...
Cheers,
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Review by Daland December 23, 2004 (7 of 11 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics (S/MC): / |
I had looked forward to this release with eager anticipation, but found the result a bit disappointing. Having listened to it several times, I now judge the recording rather differently. While the sound lacks weight, with the horns (so important in this tone-poem) often relegated to the background, the warm and silky sound of the strings is most pleasant. The difference between the multi-channel and stereo versions is none too great, with the rear channels mainly providing ambience. Unfortunately, you have to turn up the volume considerably to reach a satisfactory level, but even so the bass in this 5.0 recording is on the light side.
The interpretation, full of warmth and emotional intensity, emphasizes the romantic element rather than the conflict. Even the battle scene is rather subdued, turning out to be less of an ordeal for the ears than it often is. It took me some time to warm to Jansons' leisurely approach. After all, Ashkenazy and the Czech Phiharmonic (on the Exton label, in stereo only) offer a more exciting account as do Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
The playing of the Concertgebouw can hardly be faulted and the violin solo is very ingratiating. So this disc can be recommended to those more interested in the romantic than in the heroic aspects of this wondrous score.
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