Tod und Verklarung - Death blow, oh my god!
Santa Fe Listener | 02/17/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Into sixth minute, bang! The bass drum strike will raise you out of the grave (in this case couch).The whole TUV is of greatest recording repertoir of Strauss. This modern recording has more ambience and subtelty that I missed hearing in Karajan which is the best.I wonder why I have not heard Levine conducting Mahler's 2nd and 5th? He should. This is a great orchestra.Simply the best TUV. Don Quixote is also very good, but pales against the suspense and mystery of TUV."
The MET orchestra *****
Derek Allen Tunstall | Oklahoma | 09/15/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"James Levine and the MET orchestra deliver wonderful performances on this recording. Although there are a lot of recordings of these particular Strauss symphonic works, these hold up nicely against them all. This is a recording that is out-of-print. However; it is just as musical as recordings by Szell and Karajan. The MET is not just a backup band anymore!!"
Wonderful execution, but the fun got executed, too.
Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 12/11/2005
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Throughout these two Strauss tone poems from Levine and the MET orchestra (1995) I kept waiting for a sense that the conductor believed in the music. Everything is splendidly played and recorded--it would be hard to ask for more vivid sound or greater impact--but how far can that carry a performance? The Don Quixote is quite humorless, and at just those points where Strauss pours it on (tilting at windmills, maniacally charging a flock of sheep), Levine becomes careful and restrained. This Don doesn't die with unextinguished romance in his soul; he dies with dignity in a nursing home. The solo cello and viola are first-desk players from the orchestra and do not equal the greatest virtuosos (Rostropovich, Du Pre) in excitement and commitment.
Death and Transfiguration needs a lot of conviciton not to sound like metaphysical hokum, and here Levine seems even more concerned to ladle not a drop of vulgarity. But that's like trying to keep your face clean at a pie-eating contest. Without over-indulgnge a lot of Strauss isn't worth playing, and in this CD Levine skirts the very lusciousness that makes Strauss exhilarating. One of his more disappointing CDs."