Customer Reviews

Vienna

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

 

 

I first heard this recording as a child. I was extremely happy to find it has been released on a CD as my album was very worn. The music is fabulous and each song will have the listener humming its refrain for days. Truly a wonderful CD, the clarity and composition is to be commended. I highly recommend this CD to those who love Strauss or to those who simply want to hear THE best version of the Blue Danube every recorded.

This is the most restrained Strauss collection I've ever run across, which should spell death for music meant to make the dancers giddy. Reiner refuses to go near giddy. His Blue Danube and Emperor waltzes in particularl beg to break out of the traces but never do. What saves them is, first, the utterly clear, luscious sound of the recording, one of the best from RCA Living Stereo, and second, the meticulous inner detail that Reiner finds in each work.

This generous CD (77 min.) combines two recording sessions from 1957 and 1960. Besides Josef and Johann Strauss, we get a waltz suite from Der Rosenkavalier and Weber's Invitation to the Dance, both from the earlier session. The Weber never reaches escape velocity, unfortunately, despite the amazingly dainty articulation of the Chicago Sym. winds. The Rosenkavalier assemblage--arranged by Reiner himself--is not equal to the composer's own, and again Reiner favors precision over energy.

Just in case he was holding back for some unknown reason (a rather tough worm in his little inside?), one can check the four Johann Strauss waltzes recorded in 1960. No, they are just as underpowered but also just as stylish, refined, and poised as the first set. All this gorgeous politeness gets tiring when the corset is wound so tight, but if you can find fulfillment in Strauss without fire, this is a five-star recording.

The music here is so much fun. I heard one of the pieces on wqxr and had to have it. The song made me want to get up and dance. It was so lively. The entire cd is this way. It makes me day dream about people in beautiful gowns and suits twirling across grand ballrooms. The sound is crisp and truly astounding. Fritz Reiners take on these pieces are so enjoyable. Definately recommended. Enjoy!

If you like traditional, classical waltzes this is the CD for you. Also, very affordable.

It seems that many folks in the classical music illuminati have a low opinion of Johann Strauss' waltz "On the Beautiful Blue Danube," which is the most famous work on this CD. I don't know whether there's anything to that opinion - is it insight, or just a reaction against lush popularity? - but it is a famous and classy piece of music, and it is performed and recorded that way here. (Someone complained that it is "cold." I don't hear that, but maybe what he means is something I'd call "classy?" I don't know, and to be fair, he has probably heard more recordings of these works than I have....)

The others here are somewhat less famous than "The Blue Danube." Johann Strauss' "Morning Papers" is another sweet, enjoyable little waltz. Richard Strauss's Rosenkavalier is almost but not quite popular enough to be known by ordinary people who aren't opera or classical music fans. The other pieces here are less familiar, but they work quite well together as a program.

The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra has a fairly old tradition of giving a New Year's Concert featuring the music of Johann Strauss - recordings of many of these are available on DVD, and you might want to check out, say: New Year's Concert 2003. That's what I usually think of when I hear his music, so to me the music on this CD is the accompaniment to an elegant New Year's party, the kind where people drink champagne and sing "Auld Lang Syne."

Anyway, for $8 or so, I'd say this is a good, enjoyable buy for most people. The only things I'd throw into consideration are that the DVDs are very nice, so you might want to get this music on them, and that there is a 6-disk set of J. Strauss's music on EMI recorded by Boskovsky (who for a couple decades conducted the New Years' concerts in Vienna) that would suit some collectors better: Strauss: Waltzes, Polkas & Marches [Box Set].