Richard Strauss - Orchestral Works

About this set:

This set is a reissue. The original set has been published by EMI and has been licensed to Brilliant Classics.

Orchestra: Dresden Staatskapelle
Conductor: Rudolf Kempe
Number of discs: 9

Cover of original EMI release:



Reviews:

"There is no finer collection of Strauss's orchestral works than this; although Karjan is a strong contender. This fine box set contains superlative interpretations of Tod und Verklarung and Eine Alpensinfonie. Listen particularly to the Waterfall and Apparition scenes in Eine Alpensinfonie; this is playing of authoritarian stature. The brass is bold and masterly, the percussion gloriously audible (in a lot of recordings it comes across quietly) and of course Kempe's pacing and command take the listener into a glorious world.

The recordings are clear and glorious in tone and depth. This collection is a must for all Richard Strauss fans. It is easy to see why Rudolf Kempe and the Staatskapelle Dresden are authoritarian Strauss interpreters; the scores are given a sonic depth on an almost cosmic scale."
Customer review on Amazon

"The sound of the set is very good, and in the case of the Eine Alpensinfonie it is excellent, with the orchestra layout presented vividly, with a deep soundstage and lots of detail. The orchestra, conductor and performers are in top shape. Kempe is a commited straussian and it shows in all of these works. The Zarathustra is spacious and never hurried, as it should be. Malcolm Frager's Burlesque and Tortelier's Don Quixote reveal excellent phrasing and pace. The Till Eulenspiegel and the Don Juan exude a joy rarely heard in other interpretations. I have many versions of these works but I keep coming back to Kempe and the Staatskapelle Dresden."
Customer review on Amazon

"This Strauss integrale, aided by recording quality that is never less than very acceptable and is usually excellent, ranks as surely the best thing even Rudolf Kempe ever did. Every piece works, but for a rather brusque METAMORPHOSEN that, try as I might, I can't admire - it lacks the poetry of Christoph von Dohnanyi's wonderful version which I've praised elsewhere on Amazon - and a somewhat lumbering COUPERIN DANCE SUITE devoid of the sparkle and neatness characterizing Erich Leinsdorf's ASV rendition (best of luck trying to track down that). Otherwise, though obviously it would be a shame to miss out on Herbert von Karajan, Fritz Reiner, Sir Georg Solti, etc. (or even the underrated Zdenek Kosler in AUS ITALIEN), you could derive a very good idea of Strauss's orchestral accomplishments even if you never bought a non-Kempe recording again.

Two particular highlights: first, the best (because noblest) DON QUIXOTE ever committed to disc; second, the milk-white tone of Manfred Clement in the ever-fresh OBOE CONCERTO. And where else will you get even adequate - let alone impressive - performances of such curiosities as MACBETH, the VIOLIN CONCERTO or PARERGON ZUR SINFONIA DOMESTICA? To have the wonderful Dresden band - associated with Strauss from the early 20th century onwards - in such pieces, rather than the usual provincial ensemble in a boxy-sounding broadcast dub on some fugitive Central European label, is a treat. This collection indicates the gravity of orchestral music's loss when Kempe died in 1976, at the all too early (for a conductor) age of 65."
Customer review on Amazon


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