My Wish List
BI 2342
R. Strauss: Macbeth, Rosenkavalier Suite & Tod und Verklärung
Label Catalogue Number:
BIS-2342
BIS-2342
Running Time: 01:10:54
Release Date: May 2020
Originally recorded in 2019
Originally recorded in 2019
Genre:
Classical
Orchestral & Concertos
Classical
Orchestral & Concertos
This item is temporarily unavailable.
About
Generally acknowledged as one of the great masters of the late-Romantic symphony orchestra, Richard Strauss understood like few others how to use the rich palette of instrumental colours to portray larger-than-life passions and emotions. He did so in a series of pioneering symphonic poems – often choosing as his subject extraordinary characters such as Don Juan, Till Eulenspiegel and Don Quixote. But before either of these, in his very first tone poem, he composed a portrayal of Macbeth, his ferociously ambitious wife and their downfall. It is with this rarely played work that Lan Shui and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra open their all-Strauss disc.
Also included is another early tone poem, Tod und Verklärung, which Strauss started composing very shortly after Macbeth, and which was actually premièred before that work. In his new work, Strauss didn’t make use of an existing character or story – instead he set out to depict the emotions of a man struggling against and finally giving in to death. These two works, which both end in death, frame a suite from one of the composer’s most light-hearted ventures – the opera Der Rosenkavalier, set in mid-eighteenth century courtly Vienna. Premièred in 1911, this sophisticated aristocratic comedy, proved a perennial favourite and towards the end of his life, Strauss gave his blessing to the Suite recorded here, which manages to include a fair selection of the opera’s best-loved moments.
Please login to post a review
Reviews
2020 Most Wanted
Joel Kasow & James Miller
Fanfare - November/December 2020
“… Shui so richly blends his orchestra that one could at first think the horns slightly buried, but any feeling of homogenization disappears as you turn up the volume to concert levels. There is plenty of wonderful competition out there, of course; Karajan, Honeck, Thielmann. But comparisons become a bit silly in the presence of artistry like that, and I would simply say Lan Shui proves himself a first class Straussian. This is one of the finest-sounding releases I have ever heard, and I am stunned by the world-class quality of the Singapore Symphony, More please!”
Steven Kruger – Fanfare – September/October 2020
",,, With a full-bodied an vivid recording made in Singapore's Esplanade Concert hall, this is a release well worth investigating."
Christian Hoskins - Gramophone magazine - September 2020
“A Feisty outing for Strauss’s comparatively rarely heard Macbeth is the highlight of this disc…” ***
Jeremy Pound – BBC Music magazine (Brief Notes) – September 2020
***½
Greg Keane – Limelightmagazine.com.au - 29 July 2020
Media Downloads
Whenever possible we provide a high resolution CD cover image and a PDF version of the CD booklet for you to download and keep.
These are found in your history if purchased and once you have logged in.
