Search - Richard [1] Strauss, Herbert von Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra :: Strauss: Don Quixote / Karajan, Fournier

The Best Quixote? -- Close

Michael B. Richman | Portland, Maine USA | 11/20/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a terrific disc from the DG Originals series featuring noted Straussian Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic. Of the nine accounts I currently own of Strauss' "Don Quixote," I feel this 1965 performance with cellist Pierre Fournier is one of the best available. Many will say that this isn't even Karajan's best recording of the work, but I prefer the overall mood here to his 1975 EMI remake with Rostropovich. Additionally this performance has better sound than Reiner's 1959 RCA rendition, and I prefer Fournier's contribution as soloist to that by Tortelier on either of his two recordings with Kempe (1958 currently on Testament, and 1973 included in the EMI Box Set). And it's quite simply better than the Bernstein, Ormandy and du Pre/Boult recordings in my opinion. The only true competition in my mind comes from Fournier himself, but his classic 1960 performance with Szell is now out of print. Tacked onto the end of this disc is Strauss' Horn Concerto No. 2, with soloist Norbert Hauptmann. Considering Karajan's success with Dennis Brain on the Mozart Horn Concertos, I am surprised he never recorded the Strauss Concertos with the great horn player. Instead, EMI gave the baton to Sawallisch and the rest is history (see my review of that definitive recording). Hauptmann's 1973 account is masterful, but alas he's no Brain."

Fool's Paradise

Sean William Menzies | 08/13/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a highly under estimated recording. I return to this disc over and over again; the warmth, the wit, with which it is all played make this a delightfully sardonic listening experience. The sound is amazing, so much so that this 1966 recording seems to need no further remastering. It is fun, it is moving and it occasionally gives me goosebumps. Somehow Don Quixote is a far less grotesque work than Heldenleben, perhaps because it doesn't take itself too seriously.



Coupled with the dazzling Horn Concerto No.2, which dissolves into a beauty that utterly surprises, this is a marvelous disc, solid from first to last note. I love Cervantes' legendary misguided knight and this one recording takes you through the highlights of his befuddled career with warmth and humor and a little sadness, all against a vivid Spanish landscape, one can almost hear the cicadas!"

Eloquent & Vivid Don Quixote

Scriabinmahler | UK | 09/04/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Karajan recorded Don Quixote many times but this one with Fournier must be the finest along side his EMI recording with Rostropovich. Every scene is most vividly captured, every instrument with eloquent characterization. Fournier brings noble beauty and grace to the character, while Rostropovich's reading is also hard to resist. Better get the both as each has its wonderful moments.



"The Originals" remastering has improved the already sumptuous stereo sound of the 60s. Certainly the one of Karajan's great achivement.

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