Beginning with two rascally characters, the deluded Don Quixote and the prankster Till Eulenspiegel, this set includes remarkable recordings from the catalogues of Philips and Deutsche Grammophon with some recordings appearing on CD internationally for the first time – Haitink’s ‘Don Quixote’, Jochum’s blazing ‘Till Eulenspiegel’, shimmering Rosenkavalier Waltzes (both sets) and Munchinger’s recording of the sextet from Capriccio. Sinopoli’s ‘Metamorphosen’, previously coupled with Bruckner’s Eighth symphony and long unavailable, finds its rightful place in this Strauss collection. In addition to the Rosenkavalier and Capriccio moments, we have other orchestral music from Strauss’ operas, all conducted by Sinopoli, concluding with one of the most exciting and thrillingly-recorded versions of the Dance of the Seven Veils.
RICHARD STRAUSS
CD 1
Don Quixote, Op. 35
Tibor de Machula, cello
Klaas Boon, viola
Theo Olof, violin
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Bernard Haitink
Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche, Op. 28
Der Rosenkavalier: First Suite of Waltzes
Der Rosenkavalier: Second Suite of Waltzes
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Eugen Jochum
CD 2
Metamorphosen**
Sextet from ‘Capriccio’*
Symphonic fantasy: Die Frau ohne Schatten, Op. 65**
Love Scene Feuersnot**
Dance of the Seven Veils Salome**
Stuttgarter Kammerorchester*
Karl Münchinger*
Staatskapelle Dresden**
Giuseppe Sinopoli**
Recording producers: Volker Straus (Don Quixote); ? (Till Eulenspiegel); Werner Mayer (Metamorphosen, Die Frau ohne Schatten, Feuersnot, Salome); John Mordler (Capriccio)
Recording engineers: Kees Huizinga (Don Quixote); ? (Till Eulenspiegel); Klaus Heimann, Oliver Rogalla (Metamorphosen); Klaus Heimann (Die Frau ohne Schatten, Feuersnot, Salome); James Lock (Capriccio)
Recording locations: Concertgebouw, Grote Zaal, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, June 1960 (Till Eulenspiegel), September 1960 (Rosenkavalier), April 1973 (Don Quixote); Schlossludwigsburg, Stuttgart, Germany, June 1971 (Sextet); Lukaskirche, Dresden, Germany, December 1994 (Metamorphosen), May 1995 (Die Frau, Feuersnot, Salome)
Remastering engineers: Daniel Schleef, Harald Gericke: Emil Berliner Studios, Hannover, Germany
Haitink’s airy account of Don Quixote [is] noble and visionary…Jochum leads this great Dutch ensemble in a witty and furtive version of Till Eulenspiegel as well as fiery and eloquent ones of the two Waltz Sequences from Der Rosenkavalier…a particularly moving account of Metamorphosen’ Classical Source.com
‘seriously impressive: eloquent and with a strong sense of trajectory [Metamorphosen] … a lovely reading [Don Quixote] … so affectionately and so beautifully played’ International Record Review