Repertoire: The IDEAL Strauss Tone Poems List--All Twelve!

Love your passion for the music, inspiring and wholesome!

My picks: Aus Italien: Muti (Philips) Macbeth: Maazel (DG) Death and Transfiguration: Honeck (Reference Recordings) Don Juan: Kempe (EMI) Till Eulenspiegel: Szell (Sony) Also Sprach Zarathustra: Steinberg (DG) Heldenleben: Haitink (Philips) Don Quixote: Rostropovich/Karajan (EMI) Symphonia Domestica: Reiner (RCA) Ein Alpensinfonie: Kord (Accord) Metamorphosen: Klemperer (EMI)

Thank you for that indormation. Dance of the Seven Veils is always a hoot! I most always stay with my Reiner recordings, since I like them so much, but, I do enjoy many others.

Thank you for this one Dave!

Great video, David! I love your selections, and your editorial asides even more!! I prefer the more lyrical Alpines... you are right about Strauss' fallible dramatic instincts, but I do love the ending of Alpine... everything after the Thunderstorm is some of my favorite orchestral writing ever...

Dave, I very much hope that you’ll do the best and worst of Strauss’ tone poems in separate videos in the future. I just returned to your executive summary here, as I am preparing for a performance of Macbeth tomorrow and - of course - you directed me to gold again. My main comments are on the Metamorphosen, however, and since you included Ormandy and Philadelphia elsewhere, I thought I would recommend his recording of the Metamorphosen. It’s among the few pieces that - because it is so close to my heart - I have listened to endlessly, doing my own comparisons of the various recordings, which are remarkably different for their tempi and dynamics. Ormandy, in my view, nailed them. I really wanted to be converted by the Suitner you picked - after all, I live in Dresden - but he “only” makes for a runner-up for me and I was wondering how these two recordings compare for you. Perhaps, you felt you didn’t want to list Ormandy twice? Finally, just another thank-you note for directing me to Ormandy’s Salome. It’s one of my favourite operas. I thought I knew this dance, but I stand corrected. Ormandy makes percussion and woodwind instruments come forward that I didn’t even realise were there. He does so by reducing the strength of the strings, which normally cover the other instruments more. This is a Michelin star recording. You taste all the ingredients and they perfectly come together. How can Ormandy be so underrated? I’ve yet to listen to a dull performance under his baton. Thanks again 🙏

I will try to find a copy of the Dohnanyi death and transfiguration you mention. It appears to be put of print, but hopefully I can find one. As of now I favor Szell/Cleveland in that work. What a beautifully moving piece of music.

Hi Dave. Thanks for once again a great video. Just wanted to let you know that your vids are causing quite a stir at a certain Israeli classical music Facebook page. You’ve become the main topic of several posts and it’s a lot of fun. Some one even created a couple of memes of you which I think are hilarious. Will send them to you privately, if I only knew how to do that using YouTube🤔

Hey, I quite like Solti's Eine Alpensinfonie. It was fun to see the nod.

Between Karajan and Kempe, I haven't felt much need to expand my sources. They're both so good and convincing that I have never been listening and thought "gee, I wonder if there's a better interpretation out there." Personally, I think Karajan can't be beat in the Zarathustra, Metamorphosen (especially the digital 80s) and Alpensinfonie. That 70s analog Zarathustra in particular really ruins the listener for other recordings. But Kempe's "Dons" are wonderful, too, and the recording quality on the recent remaster is superb!

I found Suitner's Metamorphosen rec. for 2€ on Edel - Berlin Classics budget label - it turned out to be a revelatory performance as you said and also coupled with a brilliant performance of Hindemith's Metamorpfosis. So glad you recommended it!

I'm just wondering if Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme and Divertimento shouldn't have to be included! I happened to stumble into a second hand wonderful DG disc of Orpheus Chamber Orchestra which I like very much!

Interestingly, I came across a recording of Strauss conducting his Also Sprach Zarathustra in 1944 with the VPO on Youtube, and I don't know if it was the poor quality of the recording, but he did the "TAA...TAA...TAA...TAADAA" part in the beginning in the same fashion as Karajan. Which is infinitely better than what the rest does.

I saw Don Quixote with Kempe and Tortelier at the Royal Festival Hall. Moving, beautiful, dramatic, musical, unforgettable.

As a horn player in high school band, I always wondered about our role. After hearing Don Juan, I remember thinking that this was what we were all about. A defining moment for me.

These exercises are impossible to disregard. So much fun putting these lists together. No duplications of conductor or orchestra. Aus Italien: Fabio Luisi / Staatskapelle Dresden (Sony) Macbeth: Antal Dorati / Detroit Symphony (Eloquence) Death and Transfiguration: George Szell / Cleveland (Sony) - I was a high-schooler when Szell and Cleveland came to town (Tucson, AZ) and opened my world to great orchestral music with this piece. Don Juan: Fritz Lehmann / Berliner Philharmoniker (Regis) Till Eulenspiegel: Herbert Blomstedt / San Francisco Symphony (Decca) Also Sprach Zarathustra: Fritz Reiner /Chicago Symphony Orchestra (RCA - remastered superbly by Pristine) Heldenleben: Semyon Bychkov / WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln (Avie) Don Quixote: Lorin Maazel/Steven Isserlis / Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (RCA) Symphonia Domestica: Neeme Järvi / Scottish National Orchestra (Chandos) Ein Alpensinfonie: André Previn / Vienna Philharmonic (Telarc) Metamorphosen: Heinz Holliger / Chamber Orchestra of Europe (Phillips) -- coupled with a wonderful Oboe Concerto

Thank you, David, for your helpful reviews. You have mentioned Christoph von Dohnanyi. What do you think about his 'Salome' with Malfitano and Terfel? Is it flawless?

Mr. Hurwitz, Would you consider making a video to review Strauss’ Parergon zur Sinfonia Domestica? This is my second favorite Strauss work behind his Drie Hymnus. Thank you for your enjoyable videos and excellent insight. Kindest regards, Brian Melkowits

Reiner's tempi tended to be on the quick side, which is ideal for Ein Heldenleben. I also heard that Reiner's Don Juan was recorded in one take.

My favorite Straussian director is Karajan at DECCA EMI & DGG. As for Suitner, he seems to me to be a great director without a doubt and everything I have heard under his baton has a very high level.