Glorious Tod
Mon, Oct 31 2011, 11:32AM
Richard Strauss´Tod und Verklärung is one of my favourite pieces. And I´ve come across a recording that really shows its power and beauty, Kurt Masur conducting the New York Phil. It also seems to be a favourite piece of Daniel Harding, as he has conducted it twice here in Stockholm, and very, very good also. There are lots and lots recordings of this piece. Any favourites?
Mon, Oct 31 2011, 4:20PM
#2
RE: Glorious Tod
All those conductors that are...tod.
Those already mentioned plus Kempe and Knappertsbusch.
Szell used to be the top recommendation at one time coupled with the Domestic Symphony.
Mon, Oct 31 2011, 7:22PM
#3
RE: Glorious Tod
Kempe or Karajan. That Karajan gets us to the graveyard in an upholstered limo isn't entirely inappropriate.
Mon, Oct 31 2011, 9:16PM
#4
RE: Glorious Tod
Heard the Masur, It's a live recording and a little dry, but a good performance. It gets a slating on Amazon US though. Klemperer and Szell would get my vote. Don't be fooled into listening to four sugars Karajan though. His Death And Transfiguration should be renamed Diabetes and a Trip to the dentist.
Ha ha. You surprised me there Dr Brodsky. Best laugh out loud moment I've had in ages. Cheered me up after a tough day at work. I used to have HvK's version but it was far too treacly for my taste so it went to the second hand record store.
Tue, Nov 1 2011, 10:26AM
#5
RE: Glorious Tod
I admired for years Karajan on "Tod" and (in R. Straus in general), particularly in the version with the coupling of "Four Last Songs" with magnificent Janowitz. So far, Dr. Brodsky, I haven't suffered from diabetes and my teeth are quite strong. So, the problem is not in Karajan but trace it somewhere else...
I agree with Tagalie about Kempe too. A sure thing, a great conductor in R. Strauss and not only. Previn with the glorious sound of Vienna Philh. produced some amazing results in a very fine recording of Telarc. From the old recordings, there is an intriguing one with Bruno Walter, in a reasonable recording of Testament, and a daring one with Jascha Horenstein and the LSO. From the recent ones, I found impressive the one with Sinopoli on Profil, as a fill-up of Mahler's Ninth! And the list may go on...
Parla
Tue, Nov 1 2011, 11:48AM
#6
RE: Glorious Tod
Yes Parla, but their are some old ladies out there who think lavender and we we smell nice. It's just a question of taste - whether you have it or not.
( Surely there was nothing in that post that will upset Vic )
Tue, Nov 1 2011, 4:48PM
#7
RE: Glorious Tod
It's just a matter of a certain level of knowledge, not taste (which is a very subjective element by itself), Dr. Brodsky, whether you have it or not.
Parla
Tue, Nov 1 2011, 9:37PM
#8
RE: Glorious Tod
Oh dear! I know it's fashionable to slam Karajan and all his works
but has anyone sat down and actually listened to his Tod recordings,
particularly his 1974 and 1983 versions (the latter gaining a Gramophone award)? Let's not forget that
Karajan knew Strauss and
learnt from him the craft of conducting and the importance of an
inner rhythm in the music, something Karajan used throughout his
life, and can be discerned in his recordings.
Tue, Nov 1 2011, 9:39PM
#9
RE: Glorious Tod
Oh dear! I know it's fashionable to slam Karajan and all his works
but has anyone sat down and actually listened to his Tod recordings,
particularly his 1974 and 1983 versions (the latter gaining a Gramophone award)? Let's not forget that
Karajan knew Strauss and
learnt from him the craft of conducting and the importance of an
inner rhythm in the music, something Karajan used throughout his
life, and can be discerned in his recordings.
Tue, Nov 1 2011, 9:53PM
#10
RE: Glorious Tod
Just because you have known someone doesn't mean you have a secret passage way to their works. Lots of people knew Strauss and most conducted his works quite differently. Karajan also knew record company bosses, photographers, bank managers, yacht owners etc, Knowing Karajans love of wealth and luxury I would suggest that these benefits can be discerned in his sickly sweet over commercial recordings far more than any 'knowing' of Strauss. The craft of conducting and the inner rhythm in music should be the first things that any conductor learns before committing any work to a recording. Karajan also knew an awful lot of nazi's during the war, how much of this ideology do you pick up in his pre 1960 recordings.
Tue, Nov 1 2011, 11:31PM
#11
RE: Glorious Tod
I think, Dr. Brodsky, there is no hope whatsoever to find even the slightest ghost of a chance for a possible consensus on almost any matter, regardless of any valid argument, even from people of the business (I told you in another thread that even the members of BPO admit that the Orchestra never sounded or was better than the period under Karajan).
So, let Bagis to decide, after a thread of so much fuss about Karajan versus anti-Karajan. In any case, the whole thread seems to become a "Glorious Tod" for the otherwise great late Maestro and, unfortunately, to the work in question, as a collateral damage. Pity!
Parla
Wed, Nov 9 2011, 3:38PM
#12
RE: Glorious Tod
My favorite Tod remains Haitink's early digital version in Amsterdam. Never did hear the contemporary Abbado competing version from the LSO, however. HvK is certainly great (analog--I don't recall hearing the digital), and Kempe will always have his fans...
Heard the Masur, It's a live recording and a little dry, but a good performance. It gets a slating on Amazon US though. Klemperer and Szell would get my vote. Don't be fooled into listening to four sugars Karajan though. His Death And Transfiguration should be renamed Diabetes and a Trip to the dentist.