Also sprach Zarathustra

"Richard Strauss' tone poem, Also sprach Zarathustra, dominates the program with its powerful Nietszchean program and opulent orchestration, and the performance is outstanding for its high energy and extraordinary details, no mean feat with such a dense score".

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"A glorious Sunrise cues Riccardo Chailly's account of Zarathustra ... From there Richard Strauss's Nietzsche-inspired symphonic poem boasts atmosphere, beauty (glowing strings) and thrills, with impetus when required, although Chailly's basic conception is broad, the emphasis being on lyrical intensity and scientific contemplation ... Swings and roundabouts then ... The trump card is a rollicking account of Till Eulenspiegel, Chailly relishing its cartoon-strip aspects ... Finally, to complete this generous Strauss programme, Salome strips off, veil by veil, for ten minutes of sleazy seduction".

" Not surprisingly, the great fanfare introduction is carried off in sweeping, dramatic manner, but thereafter Dudamel brings a subtle, lilting melancholy to the "Backworldsmen" section, seguing smoothly into the pastoral Romanticism of the "Great Longing", before sprightly strings and thoughtful woodwind are skilfully deployed to convey the elevated lightness of "Science & Learning". A fine interpretation".

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"Guest pianist Daniil Trifonov joins Jansons and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in the Burleske, and they give it a first-rate virtuoso treatment, but this disc is primarily the orchestra's showcase, and no piece shows off this orchestra's brilliance more effectively than Also sprach Zarathustra".

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"Varm sarthed og sans for det luksuriøse i Richard Strauss' orkesterklang gør dette til en interessant ny indspilning ... Ikke alle detaljer er sat fuldstændig på plads under Vladimir Jurowskijs ledelse, men musikkens nerve er ramt, så den synger. Dermed er udgivelsen en anbefaling af det nu faste samarbejde mellem berlinerorkestret og den russiske dirigent".

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"SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg under Francois-Xavier Roth låter förträffligt. Så vitt jag kan se i noterna gör de verken full rättvisa".

"So feinstimmig und zurückhaltend, von noblem Understatement beseelt, hat man die berühmte und viel malträtierte Einleitung zu Richard Strauss' Zarathustra wohl selten gehört ... Dieser Eindruck setzt sich auch im weiteren Verlauf des Werks fort ... Was aber letzlich zu kurz kommt, ist die Lebensfreude und Lust am Überschwang, von der die Musik in nicht geringem Masse beseelt ist ... Keine Probleme gibt es in den Beigaben: Zweimal frühen Mahler".

"The sensitive, finely shaped, searching performance that follows on makes a good case for playing things down at the start [of Also sprach] ... The performance [of Totenfeier] has such compelling conviction that occasional differences from the familiar version (orchestration, texture, a small amount of extra material) hardly matter ... Whoever wrote [the Symphonic Prelude], I doubt it's been better performed".

"Interpretatively, it's Riccardo Chailly business as usual: exemplary textures ... but not as much forward movement or flying through the air as there should be".

"Vurdering: Tipp" - "Die Aufnahmen sind, auch wenn's kitschig klingen mag, in zweifacher Hinsicht ein Dokument der Liebe: zum einen der zwischen Dirigent und Orchester - da scheint es regelrecht gefunkt zu haben! -, zum anderen der zwischen Dudamel und der Strauss'schen Musik".

"Most frustrating is Also sprach Zarathustra ... In no way other than the playing, then, is this the high-class gambit DG might have hoped. It's outshone by recent Strauss orchestral releases".

"Orchestral choice: Both [works] need this wide soundscape and the art that conceals art for the details in a clear, broad picture. We still get the timbres of woodwind and harps adding their splashes of colour; from shrieking piccolo to silky bass lines, as quiet as the grave in Strauss's first fugue, the dynamic range is impressive ... I'd thought of Dausgaard as a febrile kind of conductor, but he knows when to go slow and spacious here, when to drive to thrilling climaxes".

"Also sprach Zarathustra - blot halvandet minut varer solopgangen under Mariss Jansons dirigentstok og Det Bayeriske Radioorkester, men hvilke minutter af musikalsk storhed! ... Mariss Jansons gør alt, hvad han kan, for ikke at tabe energien og give musikken liv i de resterende satser. Det er et vanskeligt arbejde, selvom der er mange lyspunkter imellem ... Som bonus får man et ungdomsværk ... 'Burleske' ... Det er den eminente klaverekvilibrist Daniil Trifonov på tangenter, der i sig selv løfter det meste ... Timingen bliver præcis og musikalsk".

"Underwhelming organ in the introduction aside, this is a passionate, detailed 'Also Sprach'. Jansons, as usual, is in total command. Daniil Trifonov sparkles in the 'Burleske' - a concerto in all but name".

"Man hört hier eine breit-gelassene, in ruhiger Weite entfaltete Darbietung mit langen Steigerungsbögen, die bei allem Respekt vor den pikanten - und von den Orchestersolisten brillant und gefühlstief dargebotenen - Details einen Zug in meditativ Betrachtende hat. Da wird Strauss' Tondichtung weniger von der patetisch-Theatralischen Aussen - als von ihrer Innenseite her gesehen".