This 2CD set brings together for the first time all of Lorin Maazel’s Decca recordings of Strauss’ tone poems with the Vienna Philharmonic (he recorded ‘Tod und Verklärung’ twice, the second time with the New Philharmonia Orchestra). All the recordings were made in Vienna’s Sofiensaal and star VPO principals were soloists in ‘Don Quixote’ and ‘Der Bürger als Edleman’. To these 1960s recordings is added the 1983 recording of ‘Macbeth’ that Maazel made for Deutsche Grammophon, thereby offering a trio of literary-inspired works: Don Quixote (Cervantes), Don Juan (Lenau) and Macbeth (Shakespeare). The release forms part of the continuing exploration of Maazel’s Decca discography.
CD1
RICHARD STRAUSS
Don Quixote, Op. 35
Josef Staar, viola
Emanuel Brabec, cello
Don Juan, Op. 20
Macbeth, Op. 23
CD2
Tod und Verklärung, Op. 24*
Der Bürger als Edelmann – Orchestersuite, Op. 60
Friedrich Gulda, piano
Willi Boskovsky, violin
Emanuel Brabec, cello
Der Rosenkavalier: First Waltz Sequence
Wiener Philharmoniker
Lorin Maazel
*FIRST INTERNATIONAL RELEASE ON CD
Recording Producers: Erik Smith (Don Juan, Tod und Verklärung, Der Bürger als Edelmann, Rosenkavalier Waltzes, Don Quixote); Hanno Rinke, Wolfgang Stengel (Macbeth)
Recording Engineers: Gordon Parry (Don Juan, Tod und Verklärung, Der Bürger als Edelmann, Rosenkavalier Waltzes, Don Quixote); Wolfgang Mitlehner (Macbeth)
Recording Location: Sofiensaal, Vienna, Austria, 4–6 May 1964 (Don Juan, Tod und Verklärung), 6–10 October 1966 (Der Bürger als Edelmann, Rosenkavalier Waltzes), 18–21 March 1968 (Don Quixote), February 1983 (Macbeth)
‘[Maazel secures from the] splendid symphony orchestra a considerable quantity of splendid sound’ (Don Juan, Tod und Verklärung) Gramophone
‘served up with great gusto … with the utmost in Viennese affetuoso rubato … The orchestral playing has a superb gloss and is full of subtle shadings, and the dynamic range is very wide indeed.’ (Rosenkavalier Waltzes) Gramophone
‘Lorin Maazel gives a finely-paced account of Macbeth and draws sumptuous playing from the VPO … it goes without saying that the playing of the VPO is altogether glorious’ (Macbeth) Gramophone