Search - Richard [1] Strauss, Arpad Joo, Philharmonia Orchestra of London :: Richard Strauss: Ein Heldenleben; Suite from "Der Rosenkavalier"

Astounding performance

Eric Zuesse | USA | 07/26/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Arpad Joo's Heldenleben is grand, heroic, and gorgeous, all at once, so that one could start anywhere to describe its virtues. Joo and the recording engineer obtained from the Philharmonia the most beautiful sound of any recording ever made of this work. Articulation is superb, everything is heard in perfect proportion to everything else, so that nothing that any instrumentalist does gets buried or else comes across as superfluous. This performance of Ein Heldenleben flows joyously, with rounded edges and no sharp angles, and with all the accents for each of the instruments in all of the right places. The sonics are unsurpassed.



If one prefers an angular and severe Heldenleben, then either of the two recordings that Bohm did of this work with the Vienna Philharmonic would be preferable. (Bohm's Dresden recording isn't as good.) Bohm and Joo certainly top the list of great performances of this work, and their approaches complement each other perfectly.



Joo does well, but not as well, with the orchestral excerpts from Rosenkavalier. Though the performance is good, it falls short of projecting the intensity that Bohm, Krauss, and Swarowsky conveyed with this music.



Whatever happened to Arpad Joo? He made about two dozen recordings during the 1990's, all of which were good and some of which (especially his Heldenleben) were unquestionably great, and then it seems that his career ended when he moved to Madrid. How can a conductor of his enormous stature just disappear and be forgotten so quickly? His Heldenleben is sufficient reason to include him among the great conductors."