EMI have not issued Strauss's recording of Eine Alpensinfonie in the UK before, while the Rosenkavalier Suite has not been reissued by them since its original 1920s incarnation. All credit to them for putting out the two performances now, even though they have been beaten to the post by an identical coupling on Koch, which I reviewed in January. For once I'm not going to bemoan the face of a duplicated effort, since it's high time that Strauss's recordings of his own music had the widest possible dissemination after years of neglect.
His readings are never overblown or vulgar. They have plenty of expression and phrasing is often magical; and he had a particular genius for shaping his own long, beautiful melodies in the most affecting way. Listen to how he moulds the orchestral arrangement of the ''Presentation of the Rose'' in the Rosenkavalier, or to the delicacy with which he brings out more reflective sections of the Alpensinfonie. In the latter work his aim is always to keep textures clear, even in the most complex passages, to maintain a firm underlying pulse and to place each episode, each detail, in the context of a balanced overall view of the work. From first to last there is a sense of inevitable rightness in the way he brings this score to performance.
As I remarked when reviewing Koch's issue, the original 1941 recording of the Alpensinfonie was rather dull, and much less vivid than a group of Polydor recordings Strauss made with the same orchestra, also in 1941. The playing is very good, however, and EMI have used a set of commercial pressings with particularly quiet surfaces for their transfer (the original matrices no longer exist). Koch's transfer has noisier surfaces, but Ward Marston has found more presence and body in the orchestral sound than is apparent in EMI's transfer. The latter scores, however, in its quieter surfaces, which are of particular advantage in the piece's more delicate passages.
I discussed the origins of the Rosenkavalier Suite, put together to accompany a silent film, and the background to the 1926 recording sessions last January. EMI present the items in the order they appear in the film and the opera: Koch have preserved the order of the original matrices, except that the Act 1 Introduction, recorded last, is placed in its proper context. Both sequences have their advantages, but here I must state a preference for Koch's transfer, which is more faithful in preserving the range and warmth of the original 78s. EMI's version has quieter surfaces, but the sound is harsher and more synthetic, with top and bottom frequencies emphasized at the expense of the middle range.'