STRAUSS Don Juan, Op. 20, Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40, Till Eulenspiegel's Merry
Pranks, Op. 28, Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30, Death and Transfiguration,
Op. 24, Waltzes from
Der Rosenkavalier
Here is another superlative budget-priced collection of performances by the Royal
Concertgebouw orchestra, this one devoted to some of the best-known works of
Richard Strauss conducted by Bernard Haitink, all very well recorded by Philips.
A gem here is Haitink's 1973 Also sprach Zarathustra, which is among
the top recordings ever made of this music. Ein Heldenleben, Don Juan and
Till Eulenspiegel are almost of this calibre; Death and
Transfiguration perhaps a bit too understated for total effect.
It is fortunate for the collector that Philips did not elect to include
Haitink's Alpine
Symphony, one of his few disappointing recordings both interpretively
and sonically. The set also contains two suites of waltzes from
Der Rosenkavalier recorded in 1960 with Eugen Jochum on the podium. |