Search - J. Strauss, Brahms, Walter :: Waltzes & Overtures / Hungarian Dances

So nostalgic it's almost a heartbreaker

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 12/15/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The inside cover of this CD shows Walter conducting outdoors in what appears to be a bandmaster's uniform (no date or caption given). The photo could be pre-WW I. Certianly Walter's style in Johann Strauss echos that untroubled world--these waltzes are insouciant, generally fast, with a touch of Sousa more prominent than sugared rubato. The performances date from the tail end of Walter's career in NY before he finally settled in Los Angeles (mono, 1956), but you cannot tell that the pick-up Columbia Sym. isn't the Vienna Phil. at its most charming. This is Strauss that smiles through tears, as it should.



Four Brahms Hungarian Dances follow (mono, 1951) with the NY Phil. They are in better sound than the Strauss collection, fuller and more resonant. The performances are from the same ethos of the Emperor Franz Josef, heart-warming and utterly carefree.



The CD ends with a wartime recording of the Moldau (1941), again with the NY Phil., which sounds so good that it's hard to believe the 78s predate tape recording. Walter hurries the tempo just enough to make us think we are caught in a rushing current--all to the good. Not many installments in the Bruno Walter Edition are mono only, but not many are this outstanding, either. A joy from beginning to end.



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