Customer Reviews

Richard Strauss: Also sprach Zarathustra; Ein Heldenleben [Hybrid SACD]

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A half century ago, I was a junior in high school. We used to have these gatherings called "assemblies," where the principal would collect the entire student body in the auditorium (no excuses allowed!) for an event of more than passing importance. At this late date, I can only remember a small handful of them: the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, President Truman relieving General MacArthur of his command. Oh, and one where two fellows from Ampex came to our high school to give a little demonstration of something called "stereophonic sound," using, needless to say, an Ampex tape recorder.

And the music for this demonstration? It was the brief opening prologue ("Sunrise") from Richard Strauss's "Also Sprach Zarathustra," in this very same Reiner/Chicago Symphony Orchestra recording. This was a "sneak preview to end all sneak previews," inasmuch as the monophonic LP ("New Orthophonic," I believe it was called) hadn't even been released at that early date. And, needless to say, this impressionable teenager was suitably impressed. So much so that, in the years to come, I acquired three LPs of the performance: the original monophonic LP, then the Living Stereo LP a few years later, and eventually, when the stereo LP had seen its better days, the Dynagroove rerelease (something I'd just as soon forget). I never did go the reel-to-reel route, and, when CDs eventually made their appearance, I opted for other performances of these two Strauss works rather than the earlier conventional Living Stereo CD release. But I always did have fond memories of that particular reel-to-reel tape demonstration back in '54; it was a direct copy of the 30ips master tape, and not the 7.5ips "consumer" version that came out shortly thereafter.

With BMG now releasing half-century-old Living Stereo classics as hybrid SACDs (10 at present, with surely more on the way), it was easy for me to select this recording as one of the first to sample. I was more than pleasantly surprised; just listening to the "Also Sprach Zarathustra" prologue had the effect of turning the clock back 50 years; truly a trip down Memory Lane!

In a phrase, I wasn't disappointed. Even listening to the conventional CD layer, it was easy to get the sense that there I was again, listening to the 30ips master tape. Even with headphones, I heard no evidence of tape hiss; just beautifully balanced stereo sound with a tremendous sense of not only left-to-right spatial array but depth as well. (This is particularly evident in "The hero's battlefield" segment of "Ein Heldenleben," where the initial muted trumpet fanfares sound as if they are coming from well behind the orchestra.) Throughout both massive tone poems, the music is well-served by RCA's "minimalistic" microphoning, with just two mikes picking up the sound field, and every single instrumental voice (and there are many of them) can clearly be heard. (Sir Thomas Beecham, that evergreen source of bon mots, reserved one of his best for "Ein Heldenleben" when he wrote that "I once spent a couple of days in a train with a German friend. We amused ourselves by discovering how many notes we could take out of 'Ein Heldenleben' and leave the music essentially intact. By the time we finished we had taken out fifteen thousand.")

As for Reiner's interpretations, perhaps the simplest way of putting it is that there is no time in the last half century that I can recall when these two performances were NOT included in EVERY "essential recordings" discography (even when the sound quality was not as it is here, in the hybrid SACD release). Reiner had a way of not oversentimentalizing these two works, as if they had been the products of one of the world's greatest egos, which, in fact, they were: Strauss made no bones about himself being the hero of "Ein Heldenleben." Reiner keeps things moving along, lest they bog down for the empty rhetoric that they can often be in lesser hands.

A century ago, when Strauss had been the most famous composer who was also a conductor and Gustav Mahler had been the most famous conductor who was also a composer, audiences couldn't get enough of the Strauss tone poems. (I think, in fact, that the record will show that Mahler conducted Strauss's tone poems more frequently than he did his own symphonies!)

And a half-century ago, when I had been in my musical adolescence, so to speak, I too couldn't get enough of them. But they haven't worn all that well in the intervening years. Now, considerably older and modestly wiser, I can only take them in infrequent doses. (Perhaps I've simply taken Strauss at his word when he described himself as "a first-rate second-rate composer.") And, fortunately for this now-jaded me, these Reiner performances, long perfect in everything but sound quality, have arrived with, finally, sound quality that matches the performances.

I have every expectation that future "essential recordings" discographies will continue to include these performances, now with this newly-refurbished sound quality that is the match of any.

Bob Zeidler

This master tape was originally made in 1954 in Symphony Hall in Chicago. RCA was experimenting with multichannel sound, in two or three channels, depending. This superaudio version encodes these master tapes directly into the new 24-bit digital format, sampling the signal and coding it digitally, over a million times per second. Both of these masterpieces for large orchestra get played to the nines, and then some, by the great Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony in one of their several golden periods.

In his era, Reiner may have never gotten his full musical credit. He was often regarded as very, very good; but too much of a standardized middle-of-the-road interpreter. Hearing these again and again over the following years, almost everybody began to realize what a true master he was, especially in repertoire that he found most congenial. His Richard Strauss tone poems are tops. The orchestra is brilliant and warm and solid in every department. The master tape captures it all, and Reiner's tempos and pacing are so exactly suited to both immediate passages and an overall conception of each work that you don't notice them at all. You are left drinking in the music. Just watch those calories.

It is only when you hear other, poorer performances that you remember that Richard Strauss was generally regarded as a genius who wrote second-tier music. He even thought he was a little below the absolute highest among the composers. Strauss himself once said that his music should be able to describe a room exactly, down to the silverware on the linen table cloth. Reiner gives his Richard Strauss the sort of attention that brushes away all the kitch, and incisively brings this late Romantic-era descriptive music to life as if there were nothing to it.

You will probably be using this disc to show off your new SACD system, if you have one. You will also be getting one of the greatest recordings ever made of these particular tone poems. What's not to like? Highly, highly recommended for both sound and for incredible performance.

In response to the one reviewer, Mr. Stenroos, who doesn't hear what everyone else does and much prefers Karajan in this music I thought an overview of this Reiner versus Karajan business might be enlightening.

To begin with the sound quality of the recordings, an important matter in this case. Differences in performance were accentuated (exaggerated might not be too strong a word) by the very different recording philosophies of the American RCA and German DG sound engineers.

Many American music critics of the 60's and 70's disliked Karajan DG issues, which they found mannered, while the sound to American critics was usually described in unflattering terms; cut off, or flattened by excessive filtering. These very real problems were largely ignored by the European press, in particular the writers of the highly influential Gramophone magazine, which at times waxed so loudly and consistently in praise of Karajan the magazine sounded like a DG house organ. This marked split between American and British critics on Karajan carried over into performance, something I'll discuss below; ironically some of the best sound Karajan ever received was not from DG, but Britain's EMI.

Apparently some of this has sunk into the current corporate decision-makers at DG; recent DG reissues on CD of Karajan and others appear to have gone back to the original tapes with frequently noticeable improvement on the CDs over the original slick and lifeless - read airless - DG LP recordings.
It should be noted this was a DG and Philips problem - recordings made by Telefunken, for example of the Berlin under Keilberth, are superior to the contemporaneous DG recordings. Listen to Keilberth in the Beethoven 7th, or any of the 1950's EMI recordings of Andre Cluytens leading the BPO in Beethoven. These later, in both mono and stereo, give an indication of how during the next several decades DG engineers would travel very far indeed from the fresh and airy soundstage of early analogue stereo.
Digital recordings of Karajan, though more up-to-date, have other issues. It's also enlightening that when Karajan recorded the first CD of an orchestra work he chose Strauss' Alpine Symphony, a showy but frankly banal choice to ring in such a now universal medium.

Reiner's sound by contrast was far more natural sounding, the hallmark of the magnificent recordings made by the early stereo engineers in America. These were the result of a decade and a half of careful testing and comparison. John Pfeiffer (see RCA Victor CD, the Age of Living Stereo: A Tribute to John PfeifferThe Age of Living Stereo: A Tribute to John Pfeiffer) had shown his creativity earlier, utilizing the film industry's technical resources to make remarkably advanced recordings of Pierre Monteux and the San Francisco in the 40's. RCA engineers had also taken a stab at Koussevitsky's famous reading of Also Sprach with the Boston Symphony. Sadly, although this was praised in its day for fidelity, the marvelous sounds of this queen of orchestras remain muted.

When RCA's engineers set forth to try Also Sprach again, this time with Reiner's Chicago Orchestra, RCA's engineers had several advantages.

1) The LP process, just introduced at the end of the 40's, was now largely perfected.
2) Enormous advances such as the tape recorder created by war time necessities gave RCA engineers far better equipment.
3) The friendly but intense competition between Mercury engineers, who had produced outstanding monuaral recordings of Kublik with Chicago added to the fire and served as a benchmark.
4) The Chicago symphony all but owned Also Sprach on records; of the first three tries, two were made in Chicago, the last and most recent a fine performance by Artur Rodzinski.
5) And most important, the unique genius of the RCA team, which, when added to the marvel of the new stereo process, completely opened out the soundstage, and produced new revolutionary recordings. These night and day improvements over the old '78s of just a dozen years before remain among the high points of recorded history.

However, as has been correctly pointed how by several reviewers, the Reiner recordings did have issues. The organ was one, and in certain sections where a great deal is going on the Reiner recordings fall a bit short. It is difficult to say how much of this is the conductor and how much the medium. For example, recording sound or choice of orchestra does not wholly explain Kempe's unrivalled gift for balancing the multiplicity of thematic strands Strauss backs up like so many freight cars.

The Hybrid SACD over the regular issue.
There have been many incarnations of the Reiner performances on CD. This most recent shows this Hybrid format SACD something of a bucking bronco, with even more punch and vibrancy tan the previous regular CD. This gives a rather wild quality, with certain orchestra sounds seemingly bursting the soundstage, this aspect is more noticeable when contrasted with sweeter strings than previous CD issues. The soundstage appears deeper, and a comparison with the original LP shows the reissue engineers clearly took into consideration the very 'bloomy' sounds heard on the original tapes. I can only wonder what reviewer Zeidler must have felt on experiencing his first hearing of stereo in a demonstration of this music using 30 inches per second Ampex tape machines!!! The brilliant "you were there" review he wrote is testimony to the lasting impact of Reiner's recording heard in all its pristine glory.

As analogue recording was replaced with digital, just as vacuum tubes had a decade before been replaced with transistors, the old recordings were largely considered passe and outdated. It was only through the energy and conviction of a small number of believers that they were finally revisited by a significant number of music lovers. Some people still prefer the older recordings, though I suspect a majority will never have a chance, unlike Mr. Zeidler, to hear first hand just what these issues offer. However, RCA's issuance of this and other of these special recordings in a Hybrid format is a huge boost and great opportunity. The prices are beyond fair - they are an open invitation and one which I hope will encourage far more people than ever before to hear these magical legendary performances. Too, with access to the original tapes many of the limitations imposed on the earlier LP recordings are no longer an issue in the CD format. Recordings universally disliked for harsh sound, such as many made by Szell and the Cleveland orchestra, fine Straussians, have been radically improved through release on SACD. Others such as these Hybrid SACDs of Reiner and Chicago offer features unavailable in the original releases. Qualities of performance previously assigned to conductors such as Szell, such as a disinterest in such things as color or svelte and dulcet tone, now appear partially the fault of recordings limitations. Szell Columbia recordings revisited through SACD come across with a palpable degree of gemutlichkeit, a quality utterly absent and unrecognized in the originals. Perhaps some of the criticism of Karajan, such as found in the comment of Mr. Bass, may be adjusted as we hear the newer reissues.

As for styles, Reiner was not just a feared martinet, but also a man of the theater, and like Mitropoulos brought to his conducting an active and obvious immediacy. This flair for whipping up excitement is on display in many excerpts we have of Reiner as conductor in the two early avant-garde Strauss operas, Salome and Elektra. It's impossible to hear these without falling prey to such adjectives as,"incadescent", or electrifying", or "white heat". Reiner in Salome can be quite over the top when compared to Karajan, who conducts the work in a more paced and deliberate fashion. Karajan was equally no stranger to the opera house, but in contrast to Reiner built up excitement through scale and weight. Karajan also tended to treat musical lines with less tension; Karajan was a devotee of very long almost Bellini-inspired melodies, captured with great conductorial skill in the spinning-out of long held pedal points - which he used to great effect in Bruckner. Karajan was equally at home showcasing pretty and decorative trimmings, with all the Straussian glitter, noticably in Der Rosenkavalier. In a work like Salome Karajan and Reiner both fully tapped into the the music's sinister tweaking of harmony, though I personally appreciate Karajan's more subtle reading, I'd rather hear Reiner leading Lubja Weltisch. In Heldenleben each brought out the mock-heroic without sacrifying what was genuine, but here again Reiner shows an unwillingness to slow down and enjoy the moment. In the recordings of this work I largely concur with the thoughts of reviewer vanDeSande. However, neither condcutor's performance on Cd matches an astonishing tour performance of massive power and majestic string playing I heard of Ein Helenleben under Ormandy with the Philadelphia Orchestra - there's always room for a new hearing!

American critics, perhaps in an attempt to separate themselves from their British cousins, reacted harshly against many Karajan recordings. Indeed they fell over themselves in wonder at Haitink's Philips recording of Also Sprach - you can look it up. Karajan and Reiner were set on the shelf. Yet many of the same critics who did not like Karajan records wrote very positive reviews of Karajan concerts in New York, in his appearances either on tour, or as a guest conductor with the New York Philharmonic. The anti-Karajan writing was also a product of doubts surrounding his background during the war - a major reason Furtwangler never came to America, and Chicago in particular. Further, matters were not helped by a general contempt by many American critics for the music of Bruckner, who Karajan championed instead of the then newly popular Mahler. Bernstein's identification with Mahler and Karajan's apparent distaste for Mahler - as he obviously had the clout to record whatever he wished - added fuel to such fires. As witnessed in the comments we are still settling some of these old scores.

The mention of Kempe also must be addressed, for he brought different attributes to Strauss. Unlike Clemens Krauss, who did not live long enough to build up a library of stereo recordings, Kempe made many fine recordings in stereo. Like Karajan he found a way to bring out the inner lines, but did so by covering the music in a sort of reverential hush, rather than more usual bawdy overstatements of most conductors. Listening to Kempe in Strauss I often wonder if this is how Richard Strauss would sound at Bayreuth, with its covered orchestra pit, the sound floating and enveloping rather than aggressively directed. Kempe preferred to win you over in Strauss by forcing you to listen more carefully - possible when the decibels were kept down. These qualities certainly were not what one found in recordings of Strauss by the dynamic Solti or even Bohm. Bohm in particular must be singled out for his unequalled magic in bringing out the various orchestra colors of a Strauss tone poem or opera. I heard him several times and this was true as well in concert.

In regard to the comments about the orchestra playing of the Chicago Symphony.
Having heard the Chicago play Strauss on several occasions under different conductors, including one of the most memorable concerts of my life, Don Quixote under Solti heard from the front seat of a center box, I don't know where to start with the negative comments of Mr. Stenroos. On records and in person this orchestra defines the word distinquished. What orchestra(s) in America does Mr. Stenroos consider first rate? Over my lifetime I've been privileged to hear them all, and quite often, and frankly find his comments about Chicago mystifying. Indeed, when Richard Strauss visited Chicago and led the orchestra as quest conductor in his own music at the turn of the 20th century, he had nothing but the most effusive praise for the band. Nothing I have heard in person or on record suggests their modern counterparts deserve anything less.

IMPORTANT NOTE: After writing this review I went to the Chicago Symphony program archives - there you can find a wealth of historical details about Also Sprach and the Chicago Symphony. Earliest American performance - recordings, etc. A must read! Just search - "Chicago Symphony Orchestra Program Notes Strauss Also Sprach".

Not much need be said about Reiner's Strauss recordings with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra - they have been around for a half century, and remain seminal interpretations of these works.

This new SACD incarnation presents these classic recordings in the best sound possible - if you allready know these recordings, you have never heard them as they are here! The clarity and vibrancy of the sound bely their age. There is a downright sensuousness to the sound - and well it suits Strauss' music.

The recordings are presented in their original two channel stereo, but one does not miss multichannel - it is amazing what is emitted by just the two traditional speakers.

As the booklet notes say, these really do seem to be as close as one can get to actually having the original tapes at your disposal. It is difficult to imagine how this can be surpassed.

Any which way you listen to this classic 1954 Reiner/Chicago disc, it remains a unique, mind-blowing experience, as much by its conception, the quality of the orchestral playing, as by its sonic impact, which puts - fifty years after date - many ulterior digital recordings to shame: in every instance one will be hard-pressed to find a more satisfying coupling of these two Strauss works.

To be recommended without any reservations.

This recording has legendary status yet it divides opinion quite sharply.For my tastes,i like the clarity and precision of Reiner's approach:the music surging ahead rather than imobilised by it's sheer opulence.Both these works can seem episodic in the wrong hands but Reiner has his sights set on the overall architecture.

One's often reminded of the essential modernity of Strauss's music which after all had a major influence on the young Schoenberg's output-note the gorgeous but rather clotted 'Pelleas and Melisande'

Also,BMG/RCA deserve the highest accolade for their artwork which cleverly incorporates the slightly worn spines of LPs,perhaps playing on ones sense of nostalgia.

I couldn't agree with Mark or Larry less. I don't consider myself a Reiner cultist, but I found these performances of Strauss's bombastic hits driven and compelling. Frankly, I bought this CD to hear what an SACD release of a 50-year old recording would sound like and was quite impressed with the sound as well as the performance. In quiet passages, especially on the Heldenleben recording, there was audible hum (the reason for my 4-star vs. 5-star rating of this performance) but the clarity of the recording- even the violins, which are always the achilles heel of an orchestral recording, was remarkable given the vintage of the performance. Without considering the sound, however, this is a performance worth having and I'm glad I ]spent the ridiculously low price of less than $8 to own and enjoy it. I wouldn't hesitate recommending this recording.

Much as I love the sound of this orchestra and the RCA Living Stereo SACD series, this particular recording is not one of its bright spots. Reiner knew Strauss well from his early work in Dresden and may well have been affected by the burnished sound and transparency of its outstanding Staatskappelle Orchestra for he always coaxed detailed and transparent performances out of his very American sounding CSO. Unfortunately, great as the orchestra is, Reiner is here saddled with an out of tune organ (reason enough to exclude this recording from serious consideration) and a 1954 recording technology that has ceased to be demonstration class. Much as I enjoy hearing the violins divided left to right, the sound stage is shallow and the dynamic range very limited. You can hear much better recorded performances in later analog recordings like those of Mehta and the LAPO, Kempe's with the Dresden Staatskappelle, Karajan's with the VPO on Decca, or the BPO on DGG much less a number of fine digital recordings. Mehta in particular managed to make much more of a statement of the "Sunrise" theme even with a 2nd rate orchestra. He simply had much better engineers and a superior acoustic in which to work.

I love the sound of Reiner's later recordings such as Rimsky-Korsakoff's Scheherazade and Resphigi's Fountains and Pines of Rome. In this case, I wish RCA had remastered the 1962 remake of Also Sprach Zarathustra instead. This one is strictly for fans. By the way, the reviewers at American Record Guide agree in their last Strauss overview, that this recording no longer cuts it.

Several of the reviewers have chosen to compare the Reiner performances of Also Sprach Zarathustra and Ein Heldenleben with those of other conductors, most notably Von Karajan. In those reviews, Von Karajan's longer musical line and perceived musical emotionality are extolled as virtues lacking in the Reiner/CSO performances.

Of course, music performance preference is a matter of taste, at least to some extent. In this instance, however, there are other facts that speak to the "rightness" of the Reiner performances.

Ever since Reiner's tenure at Dresden, Fritz Reiner had a life-long friendship with Richard Strauss, and remained throughout his colleague and advocate. When Reiner lets the music speak for itself, he is conducting as Strauss wanted his music presented. Indeed, Strauss said as much about his own recordings of his music.

As a conductor, Reiner may have seemed overly parsimonious in his movements. But as musicians who played under his baton will tell you, Reiner was capable of conducting seven (7) different lines and tempi simultaneously. The musical clarity in Reiner's performances is in no small measure due to this rare ability. As a former symphony musician I am astonished when a performance is criticized for being clear, for presenting all of the music.

When Reiner was invited by the members of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra to lead them in a recording of Strauss' music, the orchestra was so enthralled they gave Reiner a standing ovation at the conclusion of the sessions. This is the one and only time this has happened in the history of the VPO.

I had the good fortune to attend the Reiner/CSO concerts on a regular basis in Orchestra Hall. The CSO sound in Orchestra Hall at the time these recordings were made is captured faithfully. The only lack in the recordings is their ppp-fff range. Reiner and the orchestra regularly produced pppp-ffff in live performance.

In short, while there are many enjoyable performances of this music, these performances are definitive. With first-chair orchestra personnel in many of the sections generally acknowledged as the best of their era, these performances richly deserve their landmark status.

I have three performances of Zarathustra symphonic poem:

A. Decca, Wiener Philhamoniker / Herbert von Karajan, 1959, Decca CD (24-bit transfer)
B. CBS, New York Philharmonic / Zubin Mehta, 1980, Hungaroton (Hungarian) Press (Analogue Vinyl)
C. RCA, Chicago Symphony / Fritz Reiner, 1954, BMG SACD - this reviewed SACD

Short result:

My list as musical performance: A-B-C
My list as technical performance: C-B-A

Explanation:

A.
As a "musical indulgence", Karajan & Wiener Philharmoniker is absolutely on the top, no doubt. This is the most mystical, the most emotional, well balanced sounding without too harsh brasses and "artificially modified" tempo.
I am absolutely amazed when I am listening this record from its very fist note until the last one. I feel I am "one with the music"... This is "my" Zarahustra.
At the same time, this analogue master tape is quite noisy. The background rumbling is obvious during the whole symphony. I think professional sound engineers could re-master this tape on the highest quality level and they did a great job but, unfortunately, this record cannot be as clear and transparent as a demanding audiophile record nowadays...

B.
Mehta's conducting is another wonderful masterpiece. This is also very good and enjoyable record. Without Karajan CD I would be highly satisfied with this vinyl but Karajan could surpass Mehta in "feeling". On the other hand, surprisingly, this analogue record from 1980 is very-very demanding from technical point of view too. I also really like it very-very much (on my OrtophonMC-Rega-Rotel-B&W chain). The sound of both the strings and timpani are fantastic. I could hear the best timpani sound from this old vinyl...!!!

C.
As a musical performance, Reiner's Zarathustra is a kind of disappointment for me. But I do not want to describe my subjective feelings because, maybe, someone else can enjoy this kind of interpretation with over-emphasized brass section but this is not mine.
At the same time, technically, this is a very good record (playing on Marantz SA-KI Peral Lite) with wide and deep stage and low level analogue rumbling from the analogue source, in spite of the very old master tape.

Attila Madai
Hungary, Europe