Search - Richard Strauss, Seiji Ozawa, Boston Symphony Orchestra :: Also sprach Zarathustra Op. 30

Still a splendid reading, especially for its vivid sound

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 05/26/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"No one complained in 1983 when Philips release a 34-minute CD, because the bloom was still on the rose for digital sound. The Gramophone reviewer devotes a healthy proportion of his article to the warmth and detail in the recorded sound. There was no mention of digital glare or hardness in the strings, nor of a certain coldness. To my ears, this wasn't due to innocence. The sound is still splendid, quite sweeping in its scope. Ten years before, DG had made a Zarathustra in Boston with William Steinberg, later to become a cult item among collectors. By no means is Ozawa's left in the shade. It not only sounds magnificent, but he gives one of his most involved readings.



There is nothing to fault in his commitment, or the players'. Concertmaster Joseph Silverstein is generously acknowledged on the cover, and he was considered the best in the country at the time. there's no multi-mike highlighting of wind solos, but the miking is close enough that the woodwinds and brass have real impact. The BSO's strings are elegant, as one would expect. At the time, Ozawa's major rival was Karajan, who made three reccordings of the work (my favorite is the one with the Vienna Phil. on Decca); I believe Solti's first version, a blockbuster from Chicago, was still around the corner. Ozawa stuck at the right moment to make a big impression.



As a used CD, this Zarathustra is a great bargain. My only caveat is that Ozawa does find three or four places to suddenly slow the pace to a crawl. He loses momentum, but the playing is so gorgeous as to make such lapses forgivable. There's no doubt that the music is meant to be taken seriously. I missed tis recording when it appeared lo these twenty-seven years ago, but it's a pleasure to catch up."