Richard Strauss: Ein Heldenleben; Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme

Richard [1] Strauss (Composer), Simon Rattle (Conductor), Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
• Conductor: Simon Rattle
• Composer: Richard [1] Strauss
• Audio CD (January 10, 2006)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: EMI Classics
• ASIN: B000BU992E
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #138,168 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

All of Strauss' symphonic poems tell a story, but in Ein Heldenleben the subject is his own life. Casting himself as the Hero, the hostile music critics as Adversaries, his compositions as Works of Peace, his Flight from the World as Consummation, the 34-year-old composer seems to succumb to unabashed egotism and grandiosity. However, his self-indulgence is redeemed by his music, which abounds with soaring, rapturous melodies, breath-taking modulations and gorgeous, scintillating orchestral colors. A solo violin represents the Hero's Companion, Strauss' beloved but famously difficult wife; their love scene contains some of his most ravishing, ecstatic music. Equally striking is his mordantly satirical depiction of the cacophonously bickering Adversaries, who rear their malicious heads even during moments of triumphant fulfillment. Toward the end, Strauss slyly tempts listeners to "Name that tune!" with almost 30 quotes from his own works. The orchestra is wonderful; Guy Braunstein plays his virtuosic solo brilliantly but sounds distant. He comes through better in the prominent, fiendishly difficult violin part of the Suite Strauss assembled from his incidental music to Moliére's Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme. Scored for 37 instruments, it depicts the comedy's characters and situations in delightfully witty "modernized" baroque dances, some using themes from Lully; the Finale is a Viennese waltz. The players revel in Strauss' mischievous humor and their own virtuosity. --Edith Eisler

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A masterful new Heldenleben, graced with spectacular sonics, February 11, 2006

By 

Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Richard Strauss: Ein Heldenleben; Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (Audio CD)

Herbert von Karajan, who turned the Berlin Phil. into the almost superhuman ensemble it remains today, conducted Strauss all his life but avoided Mahler until near the end. Simon Rattle has done the opposite, so it's significant that he decided to tread on sacred ground and record one of Karajan's most famous showpieces. The result is a triumph: this is totally committed conducting that crackles with more excitement than any of Karajan's analog or digital versions and never runs the risk of being over-inflated.

EMI has given Rattle superbly detailed sonics across a huge dynamic range; there is no comparison with the boomy bass and shrill violins found in Karajan's classic 1959 account on DG. (It must be admitted, however, that Christian Thielemann's version for DG has even better sound -- it makes this one feel a bit hollow and lacking in sensual splendor.) The multi-miking may offend purists, since no inner detail is left out--if you still want to hear th second flute while the brass is blasting away, here you go. I for one find the impact of this CD almost unbearable. The flood of sound comes close to the shivering excitment of the real thing (Rattle recently overhwlmed the New YOrk critics and public with this same Heldeleben performance in Carnegie Hall, which I attended).

My chief objection to Rattle's conducting has been its fussiness, and in the long, enraptured section devoted to the hero's beloved, Rattle dawdles self-consciously over every sugary bar. But elsewhere he uncovers so much new detail that I was won over; this is a Heldenleben that underlines every expressive stroke from Strauss rather than being embarrassed by excess. The generous filler is a graceful, sensitively small-scale reading of the Bourgeois Gentilhomme Suite that Strauss concocted to resuce a pastiche of 18th-century music from the original, unworkable version of Ariadne auf Naxos. Both readings are from 2005, the Heldenleben recorded at a live concert, the Bourgeois Gentilhomme in the studio.

Without a doubt this CD sets a new standard in performance for one of Strauss's most extravangant tone poems. It's hard to imagine another orhestra that could duplicate it (if you have doubts, there's a new live Heldenleben from the Royal Concertgebouw under Mariss Jansons to put beside this one).

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Here Is My Illuminating Review Of This Album, September 22, 2006

By 

dv_forever (Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Richard Strauss: Ein Heldenleben; Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (Audio CD)

Simon Rattle is a conductor I passionately want to champion. He is a very talented guy who's crazy about music and he always manages to convey that enthusiasm. He also is not afraid to engage with the public and be a spokesman for modern works and offbeat repertoire. He's got the kind of cheerful, pleasant, warm personality that we haven't seen in barely any conductors since Leonard Bernstein. Now Simon is at the helm of possibly the deepest, most virtuosic orchestra in the whole wide world, the Berlin Philharmonic. I think Rattle's achievements back in Burmingham were sizable but hardly extraordinary when you get down to it, I mean how many works of music has Simon recorded where you feel it might be the definitive performance of a piece? Not many I should say. I do however think in his Berlin Philharmonic appointment as chief conductor Rattle will ultimately surpass the achievement of Claudio Abbado, but he will not approach the glory days of the godlike masters Herbert von Karajan and Wilhelm Furtwangler.

Let's begin then, already this past year Rattle has deluged the market with interesting CDs, for instance Dvorak's Late Symphonic Poems, a Schubert 9th that many hate, Messaien's Illuminations of the Beyond, ( a work I find tedious compared to Messiaen's Turangalila Symphony ), a Debussy La Mer and various pieces, Brahms' 1st Piano Concerto and so on. Apart from Debussy, Rattle has not tried to invade Karajan's territory until this recording of Richard Strauss' Ein Heldenleben.

Down below, you have two opposing perspectives on this recording and the quality of sound it receives. One reviewer says great, another says atrocious. Let me be the voice of reason. The sound on this CD is pretty good for the most part. Compared to the thin, muffled sound of Rattle's Vienna Philharmonic Beethoven cycle, ( see my review ), this Ein Heldenleben sounds splendid, but I have heard more lush, wide-ranging digital engineering from the likes of Decca and even EMI in the 70's. Are all the great sound guys dead at EMI these days? They used to be exceptional. Altogether, the sound is close up and highlights the orchestra from many angles. It does not sound like it was recorded in a closet, that is a gross exaggeration! The sound is good, it's just not state of the art, however that's not a deal breaker, the performance stands up to it's competitors. Overall I would say the aural engineering is on par with many of it's competitors.

As a performance, this is mostly a riveting good time, the opening Hero section is passionate and full of vigor, the critics are sharp and nasty, the Hero's Wife section is where Simon Rattle starts to sag a bit, especially in the rapturous second portion where the orchestra takes up the Strauss couple's ecstasy and contentment with one another. Here Rattle slows the music down a tad and seems to try and wallow in it instead of letting the musical line take it's natural direction as Karajan always did on his records. The Battle Section is fierce and involving with plenty of inner detail and spotlighting of the instruments, which some people won't take to. The later passages follow up an altogether terrific interpretation. I would have loved to hear this in concert! The sound on the recording as I mentioned above is not as lush or expansive as in the best sounding Heldenlebens, for instance Karajan's outstanding EMI version from the 70's and Blomstedt's version with the San Francisco Symphony on Decca, ( a note, Blomstedt's Denon version is lame and tame by comparison ).

So why should you listen to my opinion exactly? Well, I am a huge fan of Richard Strauss, everything from his tone poems, operas, songs, concerti, even his outlandishly neglected choral music! He is one of the supreme masters of composition even if his music many times lacks the profound nature that can be found in Bach, Beethoven and Wagner, Strauss is still one of the most brilliant musicians who ever lived. I have listened to many Ein Heldenlebens. Let me count them and give quick insights on each version I either own or heard. Here goes, Reiner/RCA from 1955, ( good but a tad mechanical ), Karajan/DG from 1959 ( terrific but Karajan would go on to do even better ), Eugene Ormandy/Sony Essential Classics, ( a rollicking good time, certainly a garish account, it's a shame that the sound sucks compared to the best versions ), Barbirolli/EMI from the late 1960's, ( incredibly expansive, even slow reading, but engaging and interesting in it's own way ), Solti/Decca from the 1970's, ( intense, fierce, brilliant, but lacks inner qualities ), Karajan/EMI from 1974, ( this EMI Karajan is the best Heldenleben in my opinion, awesome performance all the way through with the most thrilling Battle Scene ever recorded! Sound is lush and expansive, A must own. ), Rudolf Kempe/EMI, also from the 70's, ( good work but not first class ). Haitink/Philips, 70's again, ( fine account but somewhat understated in Haitink's typical vein ). Karajan/DG Karajan Gold from the early 1980's, ( another monumental performance but the sound can be a bit rough, early digital edge, you know! ). Blomstedt/Denon, ( this earlier Blomstedt account with the Dresden orchestra is too tame for it's own good, I was sleepy and not involved ). Blomstedt/Decca, ( Blomstedt's second go at Hero's Life with the San Francisco Symphony is much better and has terrific sound! Still, he's no Karajan! ). Wolfgang Sawallisch/EMI, from the 1990's ( good, classy playing by the Philadelphia Orchestra, Sawallisch uses Strauss' original, quiet ending, where the music just fades away, no massive fortissimo like in every other version. Guess what, that fortissimo is great and I sorely missed it! Oh well, still a decent record ). Simon Rattle/EMI 2005, ( the one I'm reviewing, braniac! This is a damn fine job by Rattle, a good choice but not the best ). Christian Thieleman/DG 2003, ( this Vienna Philharmonic performance is Rattle's most inspired recent competitor. It's massive, perhaps slightly over emphatic and bloated but nonetheless very satisfying and perceptive, great sound ).

Well, there you have it! I just gave you a rundown of over a dozen Heldenlebens, I hope you were taking notes! Isn't this the best review ever? Hahaha! Simon is strongly competitive overall in this music but the honor goes to Herbert von Karajan in the end, anyone who disagrees with that simply doesn't have a clue!

1st place, Karajan on EMI from 1974, available in the Karajan Edition or Karajan Collection, same remastering by the way! 2nd place is Karajan on DG Karajan Gold from the 1980's or the early 1959 version, both great but the digital one has the edgy sonics as I mentioned. 3rd place, take your pick, Rattle/EMI, Reiner/RCA, Solti/Decca, Thielemann/DG or Blomstedt/Decca, any of these versions is a winner but not a champion. If you want a more historical perspective, you can seek out Thomas Beecham or Clemens Krauss, ( Strauss' main conductor back in the day ), or even the master Richard Strauss himself conducting Heldenleben, I haven't heard Strauss himself, but it must be good!

Did I mention that Rattle also conducts the suite Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme on this CD? This is not a favorite of mine by any measure, how can the composer of Ein Heldenleben, Salome and Elektra also fashion together this pedestrian bourgeoise score? The modernists must have had a field day ripping Strauss a new one over this music, although some composers like Stravinsky would be guilty later of similar stylings in his neo-classical phase for instance. All in all this is one of the many different facets of Strauss' persona, the fire-breathing hero on the one hand and the middle class dork on the other. If you want a great performance of Le Bourgeois Genhilhomme, go to Fritz Reiner, this Simon Rattle version doesn't measure up, it's too dull. It was recorded in the studio and the sound is tame compared to the vibrancy and immediacy of the coupled Heldenleben performance which was recorded live!

Has this been the longest review you've ever read? If you have read it, I hope it was worth your time. I'll just go now and listen to Karajan's great performance of the sadly neglected masterpiece Sinfonia Domestica. Later I'll listen to some of Solti's version of Die Frau Ohne Schatten, one of the most heavenly operas ever composed by the way! Why am I wasting so much time writing this review then? Right, I'm going now, at least I'll know this was helpful to all you Strauss fans!

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A Requiem for the Berlin Philharmonic, September 1, 2011

By 

Bernard Michael O'Hanlon (Wilsons Prom, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Richard Strauss: Ein Heldenleben; Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (Audio CD)

Having waded through this limp performance, I can relate to the character played by Charlton Heston at the end of the Planet of the Apes (1968). Upon seeing the Statue of Liberty, he bellowed, "You Maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn you all to hell!"

I feel no different.

To my mind, this performance is a Requiem for this once great ensemble. Its unique Klang was destroyed by Abbado the Boring and his `democratisation' agenda - we wish him well as he hobbles around in Period Practice Land. And with Sir Simon securely bunkered down as head conductor, Berlin is not gonna be Resurrection City anytime soon. The inner luminescence of a great orchestra has gone. Its players are the Berlin Philharmonic in name alone. Throughout this disc, for instance, their playing is tensionless - absolutely tensionless. One might as well be listening to the current day Philadelphia Orchestra - first rate, yes; inexplicable, no.

By stepping up to the Ein Heldenleben plate, Sir Simon invited a comparison with you-know-who. We will use Herbie's 1975 performance on EMI Strauss: Don Quixote; Ein Heldenleben; Symphonia Domestica. It is not to their benefit.

Tell me:

Where is the swagger in the opening bars of Sir Simon's account?

Why are the critics so tame in his hands?

Why is the battle passage so pacific?

Has there ever been a less hair-raising rendition of the theme from Don Juan? What a non-event. I am staggered that no-one has mentioned it yet. This is the nadir

And what about the innumerable `saggy waggy elephant' passages where Sir Simon is unable to maintain any sort of momentum coming off a tutti? I counted at least half a dozen occasions, mainly on track 4 - Des Helden Walstatt - from 3: 51 onwards. The opening of Des Helden Friedenswerke is pretty limp as well.

Where is the sense of valediction in the last movement - which is not to be equated with `slowing down and playing softer'? An apotheosis there ain't.

Karajan in 1975 offers a sharp contrast on every one of these points. His vices (such as the `saturated fat' sound of his orchestra) are more interesting than Sir Simon's virtues (clarity, to no vivid end). His version is a Hero writ large.

There is another work on this disc but I had lost heart by that point. Others have commented on it.

I do not understand how anyone who purports to love this work - and is aware of the wider discography - could award the Beknighted One anything more than three stars.

Of the virtues that make one small - if not middling.