Strauss - Salome / Jessye Norman · Morris · Witt · Raffeiner · Leech · Staatskapelle Dresden · Ozawa

Richard Strauss (Artist), Seiji Ozawa (Artist), Jessye Norman (Artist), Walter Raffeiner, Richard Leech, James Morris Kerstin Witt (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 23, 1994)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Polygram Records
• ASIN: B00000413H
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #182,890 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #31 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Divas > Norman, Jessye

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Salome: Scene One - Wie schon ist die prinzessin Salome heute nacht

2. Salome: Scene One - Nach mir wird einer kommen

3. Salome: Scene Two - Ich will nicht bleiben

4. Salome: Scene Two - Siehe, der Herr ist gekommen

5. Salome: Scene Two - Jauchze nicht, du land Palästina

6. Salome: Scene Two - Du wirst das für mich tun

7. Salome: Scene Three - Wo ist er, dessen sündenbecher jetzt voll ist?

8. Salome: Scene Three - Er ist schrecklich

9. Salome: Scene Three - Wer ist dies weib, das mich ansieht?

10. Salome: Scene Three - Jochanaan! Ich bin verliebt in deinen leib

See all 21 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Salome: Scene Four - Salomes Tanz der sieben schleier

2. Salome: Scene Four - Ah! Herrlich! Wundervoll, wundervoll!

3. Salome: Scene Four - Salome, ich beschwore dich

4. Salome: Scene Four - Salome, bedenk, was du tun willst

5. Salome: Scene Four - Man soll ihr geben, was sie verlangt

6. Salome: Scene Four - Es ist kein Laut zu vernehmen

7. Salome: Scene Four - Ah! Du wolltest mich nicht deien Mund kussen lassen

8. Salome: Scene Four - Sie ist ein Ungeheuer, deine Tochter

9. Salome: Scene Four - Ah! Ich habe deinen Mund gekubt, Jochanaan

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars It shoots for the stars but lands in Jokanaan's pit., August 27, 2003

By 

JPH "JPH" (Crawley) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Strauss - Salome / Jessye Norman · Morris · Witt · Raffeiner · Leech · Staatskapelle Dresden · Ozawa (Audio CD)

I am a big fan of Richard Strauss's tone poems, and thus the opening bars of this recording thrilled me to bits because what I heard were the magical, authentically Straussian tones of the great Dresden Staatskapelle - the orchestra which has the most intimate associations with the composer himself. But thereafter the thrill gradually fades away. Simply having the premier Richard Strauss orchestra in a Strauss opera recording is no barometer of ultimate success when the conductor and most of the cast are not up to the task. It is wonderful to hear the magisterial voices of Ms Norman and Mr Morris in the important roles, but their efforts are seriously undermined by the poor casting in the smaller, but vital roles, and by the inappropriate direction of Ozawa. Instead of offering a superbly played music drama to rival great versions by Sinopoli and Solti, Ozawa treats this score as if it were a Tchaikovsky ballet (with a severed head instead, no doubt). The only outstanding part of this recording which overtakes its other rivals is in the passage where Salome holds up John's head. Here, the great Dresden Staatkapelle revealed the dance elements in the bars following this moment. No other CD version had revealed this insight to me before. A startling moment of orchestral playing.

However, that is just about all. Ultimately, this is a recording which promised much on paper, but failed to deliver the goods. All fluff and no bite. However great Norman here is, she cannot do much to save this opera set when everything else is collapsing around her.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The worst best ever, May 8, 2009

By 

Mick McAllister - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Strauss - Salome / Jessye Norman · Morris · Witt · Raffeiner · Leech · Staatskapelle Dresden · Ozawa (Audio CD)

I'm sure there are many much worse recordings of Salome, but for sheer disappointment, this one is hard to beat. I've listened to five Salomes in the last two weeks, and this one is so bad it's embarrassing. The cast is utterly wrong, except for the excellent James Morris (but I'm prejudiced, because I saw him perform Jochanaan at Santa Fe). The orchestra is listless and muddy. The Herod and Herodias don't do much except contribute noise.

But worst, and most unforgivable, is the "casting" of Jessye Norman as Salome. Not only is her voice itself wrong (she comes across as a mature Turandot, not an out-of-control nymphet), but her interpretation of Salome is completely superficial and wrong-headed. Playing Salome as a nasty adult decadent is to miss every justifiable interpretation of the operatic role, however faithful it may be to Wilde's misogynistic fantasy.

What is unforgivable is that there are hints all over this recording that it was a vanity piece. What could Philips have owed Norman, that they would finance this abomination? There is the vanity of the casting, with a stable of non-entities backing up the Divine Ms. N and her Carmenesque voice assigned a role she is no more suitable for than she would be to sing Chinese opera. There is the telling note at the end of the "think piece" on the opera indicating that it was "edited" by Ms. Norman. It is without competition the worst essay on Salome I have ever read, missing most of the point, dwelling on Wilde's nastiness, and reducing the entire body of visual art on Salome (neither Norman nor the writer she is "editing" seem to be aware that there is a vast body of painting that depicts Salome as horrified once she sees what she has done) to Moreau's decadent surrealism (the cover photo is actually an arch reference to Moreau's Salome, I think).

As a sanity check and bit of charity, I listened to the great monologue before posting this. No. Even this she doesn't pull off. She delivers "Ach, warum (Why would you not look at me?)" as if she were asking him why he chose that particular tie. Norman does not get it. There is nothing to recommend in this recording; you could do better picking another at random. If you want a recommendation: Nilsson, Rysanek, Studer, Inga Neilson -- all excellent in their way, and Ljuba Welitsch if you can find one.

As I was listening, I noticed that WinAmp, for some inexplicable reason, thinks the CD is Eva Marton with Zubin Mehta and the Berlin Philharmonic. I wish!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Salome, Bad Herod, August 11, 2002

By 

wayne pannabecker (Brooklyn, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Strauss - Salome / Jessye Norman · Morris · Witt · Raffeiner · Leech · Staatskapelle Dresden · Ozawa (Audio CD)

Yes, Norman produces gallons of wonderful, jaw-dropping, voluminous tone and her technique, range, and German language-familiarity are welcome also. She's the kind of listener who can command attention and one we want to listen to; nevertheless, it sounds more like Elektra than Salome to me. When is she going to undertake Brunnhilde, by the way?
Ozawa's conducting is straightfoward with good attention to detail but somewhat neutral rhythmically.
The cast is capable with the exception of the Herod (Walter Raffeiner) who speaks, moans, grunts, and shouts more than he does sing. If his voice were prettier, it might be more listenable, but it's ugly, strained, and imperfectly controlled. He, in fact, makes a singer like Gerhard Stoltz who is famous for sprechstimme and campy performances sound like vocal gold by comparison. (Stolz can be heard as Herod on Solti's set with Nilsson.) James Morris as Jokanaan and Richard Leech as Narraboth make vivid and pleasing additions to the cast, but the rest (Dresden regulars) are just adequate--they don't shame the performance, but they sure aren't world class either.
The three star rating is mostly for Norman's contribution.