Search - Richard [1] Strauss, Rudolf Kempe, Dresden Staatskapelle :: Richard Strauss: Don Juan; Till Eulenspiegel; Waltzes ('Der Rosenkavalier'); Metamorphosen

A generous compilation from Kempe's classic Strauss cycle

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 07/21/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"EMI has reissued Kempe's classic Richard Stauss recordings from Dresden more ways than McDonald's sells hamburgers, but they have one quality--freshness--that makes them enduring. The best thing here is the waltz suite from Rosenkavalier. Usually conductors lean heavily into the French horns and burlesque the waltz rhythms to remind us of the opera's comedy. Bypassing all that, Kempe remains alert and alive, giving us delightful shadings along the way. It's one of the best, if not the very best, recording I've ever heard of this evergreen score.



Also fresh and bright is Till Eulenspiegel, which like everything here has been remastered so well that there can be no complaints about the original analog sound. This Eulenspiegel isn't brash or naughty enough, however, and Kempe's discretion never breaks loose into comic abandon. I listened without smiling, good as the reading is. Don Juan also raised reservations: Kempe opens at breakneck speed, racing past a lot of expressive detail, only to slow down abruptly for the seductive second theme. I don't feel the swelling romance and epic swagger that this music receives under Karajan.



Finally, the last of Strauss's orchestral works, Metamorphosen for 23 solo strings, combines mourning for the destruction done by Allied bombing with Strauss's melodic sumptuousness. Readings can turn either way, toward grief or splendor. Dresden was one of the sacred musical places the bombs destroyed, and I expected Kempe to emphasize pathos--in fact, he underlines the melodic beauty and glowing tone of the music, abetted by the special finesse of the Dresden strings.



In all, this CD contains 73+ min. of classic recordings that have never sounded better."