Customer Reviews

Strauss: Waltzes, Polkas & Marches [Box Set]

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

A long series of Strauss music recordings conducted by Willi Boskovsky provides the contents of this slender, super-compact box of 6 CDs. Those who collected the original issues should check the contents before jettisoning them, because not everything has been reissued here. I especially regret that the vocal version of "An der schönen blauen Donau" has been omitted.

No combination has ever excelled Willi Boskovsky and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in performing this repertoire. Although the waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, marches and overtures were performed over and over again by these musicians, there is never a hint of workaday routine or staleness to be heard here. Everything seems to unfold naturally. Each item's inherent character is displayed. Tiny nuances and felicities of phrasing and a balance that favors the melody and reduces the accompaniment make these performances inimitable. The performance of "Morgenblätter" seems to provide a tad more excitement and impact than the other 85 items.

The recordings were made between 1960 and 1976. They are studio recordings, not deriving from the famous New Year concerts, and all but the few items from the very earliest year provide excellent sound.

Willi Boskovsky was born and trained in Vienna. Both Boskovsky and the great Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra -- of which he served as as concertmaster for forty years -- thoroughly assimilated the essence of the delightful Viennese waltzes and other music presented on these CDs. This is beautiful music superbly conducted and played by people who understand and love it. All of the favorites and many delightful lesser-known works by the Waltz King Johann Strauss II, his father Johann Strauss I, and his brothers Josef and Eduard are included in this set of six CDs. Very highly recommended.

If you love or are just curious about the music of Vienna's Strauss family, this is the box set for you. You need look no further. Willi Boskovsky and the Vienna Philharmonic set the standards for the performance of these sublime waltzes, polkas and marches. The sound is fine, too, even though the recordings are not new. This is, quite simply, a magnificent set. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

The intimate association between Strauss family and this famed director plus the presence of the renewed Vienna Philharmonic have established for the posterity this fruitful album has become through the years, a reference album.

You will find in these interpretations that Viennese flavour, that aristocratic elegance and refined panache so remarkable and distinguished.

Not to be missed.

Budget Price..... Recording and sound are good to excellence .... Let's enjoy and touch the spirits of Vienna now.....

It doesn't contain all the music from the Strauss family, but enough for me to enjoy. For such competitive price, 6 CDs are fantastic holiday gift.

Willi Boskovsky, the longtime concertmaster of the Vienna Philharmonic, is generally not known as a conductor--except when it comes to the music of the Strauss family, where he is one of the acknowledged masters. When I first started collecting classical recordings, back in the cassette era, my first Strauss family recording was a tape with some of Johan Strauss II's waltzes, with Boskovsky conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Now it's my immense pleasure to own this CD box set, collecting Boskovsky's recordings of over 80 Strauss family tunes. All the best-known tunes are here--waltzes like The Blue Danube, the Kunstlerleben and Tales from the Vienna Woods, polkas like the Tritsch-Tratsch and Unter Donner und Blitz, Johann I's famous Radetzky March, etc. There are also gems that I had never heard before, like Josef Strauss's waltzes Music of the Spheres and Village Swallows, which are very nearly as inspired as those of his more famous brother. The performances are absolutely first-rate and the price is an incredible bargain (as of when I write this). I recommend this set without reservations.

There is one reviewer who is barking mad. This set of recordings with Willi Boskovsky and The Vienna Philharmonic is on key, on tempo and is echt-Viennese. True, it is not digital, merely ADD stereo, as it was recorded before the digital era. However, the sound is generally quite fine, although some of the earliest recordings, which are from the late 1950s and early 1960s might require some sound adjustment on certain playing machines. If one wants to savour truly outstanding performances (which Gramophone has noted as being "legendary", and "justly famous") one should not hesitate to get this notable collection, with its true Viennese lilt. The Emi collection, recorded in the 1970s and 1980s is also quite nice, although it is with the Vienna Strauss Orchestra, not the Philharmonic (a very fine group of musicians, nonetheless). The sound is brighter, but not necessarily "better". And there are some selections on the Decca set not on the Emi set, and vice versa. I treasure both. I would recommend both to those who love the music of the Strauss family. It does not get much better than this!

I bought this box set a long time ago. I can not believe that it is getting such favorable ratings. Where do I start?
My middle school band sounded better than this. I, who have no talent in reproducing music, sound better than this. I'll get more specific, with mine, and just about everyone's favorite waltz; The Blue Danube. Muddy. Indefinite meter. Rushed by the conductor. Unbalanced sound across the orchestra pit. Different sections apparently are not watching the conductor, because they are off by 1/2 to 1 beat. It was so painful to listen to, I turned it off. In the 5 or 10 years that I have owned this collection I have yet to listen to the entire set it is so sickening. (This is absolute truth.)
I have a classical collection of 100's of compositions. And that is limited in size because I concentrate on Baroque, Classical, and only a few post programatic pieces. I once sat in a private audience with Itzhak Perlman and thought I had gone to heaven. I know good music and performances when I hear them. This is not one of them.