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Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie, Macbeth - Janowski

Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie, Macbeth - Janowski

PentaTone Classics  PTC 5186339

Stereo/Multichannel Hybrid

Classical - Orchestral


Richard Strauss: Alpine Symphony, Macbeth

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
Marek Janowski (conductor)

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13 of 15 recommend this, would you recommend it?  yes | no

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Review by Graham Williams - August 7, 2009

One of the most compelling reasons for acquiring this disc is Marek Janowski’s thrilling performance of Strauss’s unjustly neglected early tone poem ‘Macbeth’, a work that he began to compose around 1887.

‘Don Juan’, ‘Tod und Verklärung’ and ‘Till Eulenspiegel’ are the most famous and widely performed Strauss tone poems dating from the late 1880s and early 1890s and although ‘Aus Italien’ is often considered to be the first of Strauss’s tone poems, it is really little more than a pictorial suite whereas ‘Macbeth’, like ‘Don Juan’, gives a deeper musical depiction of the characters involved. ‘Macbeth’ gave the composer the most trouble in terms of its composition (Strauss continued to alter the orchestration of the work as late as 1891), and it has remained the least performed and recorded in the canon of his tone poems.

No higher praise can be given to Janowski’s interpretation than to say that it equals that recorded by Rudolph Kempe and the Dresden Staatskapelle in 1973, while, of course, the sound quality on offer here is incomparably finer. The Pittsburgh SO wind and brass excel in the heroic passages while the supple and lustrous strings soar with ideal Straussian ardour in the more lyrical sections. Hearing a performance as fine as this makes it perplexing that Macbeth does not appear more often on concert programmes.

When it comes to the main work on the disc, the competition, even on SACD, is intense, including performances from three of the world’s greatest orchestras, The Wiener Philharmoniker (Christian Thielemann), the Concertgebouw Orchestra (Maris Jansons) and the Dresden Staatskapelle (FabioLuisi). However, the Pittsburgh Symphony has no need to fear comparison with any of the aforementioned illustrious bodies. The richness and unanimity of their brass section is immediately apparent in the opening ‘Nacht’ section and also when the ensuing ‘Sonnenaufgang’ bursts forth to reveal the orchestra’s glorious burnished horns. Elsewhere the glowing upper strings and trenchant basses impress, while the woodwind playing is alert and full of character.

Janowski’s pacing of every section of the work is sure-footed and natural. Excessive lingering is not his style and he keeps the music moving forward even in such sections as ‘Wanderung neben der Bache’ (track 4) where, for example, Luisi is much more indulgent. The acoustic of the Heinz Hall acoustic in Pittsburgh gives the sound a superb richness and depth yet the engineers have ensured that little detail is lost. There is no attempt made to use the surround channels for anything more than added ambience. The off-stage brass is firmly behind the orchestra and the distant (slightly too distant?) cowbells are placed within it.

Janowski achieves the maximum possible grandeur in ‘Auf dem Gipfel’ (track 14) and Strauss’s depiction of the storm could hardly be more vivid or dramatically realised than in his hands (very impressive wind machine and organ!). The moving and beautifully phrased ‘Ausklang’ (track 21) once again draws the listener’s attention to the superb orchestral playing throughout this SACD.

Though taken from live performances in 2008, the Soundmirror engineers have ensured that the presence of an audience is virtually undetectable yet have still managed to capture the scale and impact of the work to an amazing degree in the most luxuriant sound. This is an outstanding release even in an increasingly crowded field of recordings of the ‘Alpensinfonie’.

Copyright © 2009 Graham Williams and HRAudio.net

Performance:

Sonics (Multichannel):

stars stars

Review by Mark Novak - September 30, 2009

This is an impressive release. Performances are satisfying in the best sense of that word with nothing calling undue attention to itself. Janowski and the fine Pittsburgh players extract all one would want from these scores without going over the top and without any histrionics. Could they have been more exciting? Well, I suppose so but these performances are firmly in the mainstream tradition and I find that just fine. This is my first Alpine Symphony on SACD so I cannot provide contrasts to the competition but one won't be disappointed with what's on offer here.

Sonically, this is also very good. Dynamic range is wide - listen to the opening Nacht section of th Alpine and how it moves from brooding piano (p) to and exultant fortissimo (ff) as it builds. The orchestra is well-balanced with the wide variety of special instruments (e.g. wind machine, glockenspiel, pipe organ, off-stage brass, etc) all making their impact when called upon. This being a live recording (though with no evidence of an audience in the recording) I think it is a bit opaque in sound compared to the best studio-recorded orchestral efforts. Even still, the music makes its impact quite effectively. Recommended.

Copyright © 2009 Mark Novak and HRAudio.net

Performance:

Sonics (Stereo):

stars stars