An elegant but rather tired event under the aged Pretre
Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 02/28/2010
(3 out of 5 stars)
"I can see why the Vienna Phil. invited Georges Pretre back so soon after his 2008 appearance: he scored a hit then with a Napoleonic theme. It was refreshing to hear how linked to France the Strauss family -- and all of Europe -- was, and many delightful surprises emerged. But 2010 is a letdown. There's no consistent theme, the selections are conventional, and Pretre, now 85, has lost considerable energy. He's capable of some affectionate readings, a far cry from his blood-and-thunder prime, and the orchestra responds very nicely, as they didn't seem to for Jansons and Barenboim in preceding years. The engineers provide ravishing sound, quite detailed and sparkling. But doses of affection and good sound aren't enough to rescue this concert from a feeling of fatigue, the last thing one wants from the ebullient Strausses."