Search - Richard [1] Strauss, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra :: Strauss: Metamorphosen; Symphonia domestica

Great performance, shame about the audience participation

Alwa | 04/10/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Furtwangler's interpretation of Metamorphosen preserved on this live recording is truly an event. Tempos are fast but this only adds to the excitement. All the terror and anxiety of war torn Germany, and the mourning for that which has been lost forever, are reflected in this performance as never before. One has the feeling that Furtwangler and his orchestra, and the audience to which they are playing too for that matter, truly understands this music as they lived through the same events that purportedly inspired Strauss to write this piece. As for the audience it must be noted that there seems to have been some sort of epidemic going on at the time as the audience is among the worst for coughing I have heard and the microphones sound as though they are set up to record these hackers as much as the music. Indeed at times it sounds like small explosions going off in the auditorium. But audience noise and dim sound generally cannot hide the fact that this has to be one of the most intense accounts of Metamorphosen on record. As for Simphonia Domestica it is an adequate performance but not on the same level as Metamorphosen."

These are very fine performances, recorded sound notwithstan

Alan Majeska | Bad Axe, MI, USA | 08/20/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The sound is from the mid-1940s (1947 for METAMORPHOSEN; 1944 for SINFONIA) but is quite good. The bass may seem a touch boomy at times, but the overall sound picture is very clear and full.



Furtwangler's special way with Richard Strauss's colorful scores makes these among my favorite recordings of these works. I still have affection for Barbirolli's METAMORPHOSEN (EMI), and a modern recording from the 1980s of SINFONIA by Edo de Waart/Minnesota Orchestra (Virgin), but these are very good, and I will listen with much pleasure again and again.



For under the cost of a fast food meal you can have a great recording here, and no indigestion following! Grab it."