Ein Heldenleben

"The main work on this release is the tone poem Ein Heldenleben (A Hero's Life), one of the most admired works in the entire symphonic repertoire. The filler is a less well known Burleske for piano and orchestra ... My benchmark among the established recordings of Ein Heldenleben is Kempe's account. For those requiring a more recent recording, this captivating new release of Antonio Pappano conducting the Santa Cecilia Orchestra should certainly fit the bill. Bertrand Chamayou's fine performance of the Burleske is a bonus".

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"Anyone worried that an Italian orchestra can't convince in Strauss can put their worries aside. This is a disc of a major Strauss tone poem that sounds admittedly rather different to those coming from north of the Alps, but it's valid and satisfying ... That finely contrasted drama is also apparent in the Burleske, Strauss's anti-concerto. As soloist, Bertrand Chamayou has all the rakish wit the part requires, with a hint of danger when needed".

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"Editor's choice - May 2021: The composer-hero emerges as unusually grounded (though crucially never earth-bound) from the very first phrases of this loveable, refreshingly unbombastic Heldenleben, thanks to Pappano's spacious tempi and the broad, generous sweep of the Santa Cecilia strings; there's a thrilling edge to the brass in the battle-scene, and leader Roberto Gonzales-Monjas is ideally capricious and beguiling in his depiction of Strauss's wife Pauline. And Chamayou's deft, exuberant pianism in the early Burleske is a joy".

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"This excellent new release offers stunning, twenty four carat gold versions of Ein Heldenleben and Amériques ... The massive orchestra with the extended wind and brass sections that Strauss requires for his imaginary hero is bonded together with unwavering assurance. This vibrantly colourful score, crammed with incident, has the Hanover-born Metzmacher revealing an astonishing amount of otherwise rarely perceptible orchestral detail".

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"To af Berlins dirigentstjerner ... har indspillet Ein Heldenleben. Det er to væsensforskellige gengivelser, Thielemanns mere æstetisk forfinet og Rattles mere direkte fortællende ... Hans evne til at lade musikken fortælle historier kommer specielt frem i Strauss' suite til Molieres "Den adelsgale borger" med præcise pointer".

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"A brilliant recording matches the luminous playing in this Strauss coupling".

"Editor's choice: The two performances on this often remarkable album ... has been worth the wait. His [Pappano] Heldenleben is one of the finest I've heard in some time, a beautifully controlled interpretation that is often quite extraordinarily moving ... His Santa Cecilia Orchestra has become a force to be reckoned with under his directorship, and the playing throughout is wonderful in its focus and clarity ... The Burleske, with Bertrand Chamayou the excellent soloist, is also special. Chamayou plays it with devil-may-care virtuosity and bags of charm ... The orchestral playing has wonderful panache ... It's an excellent disc, highly recommended".

"In Ein Heldenleben (1898), Metzmacher stresses the symphonic quality of what can easily seem an exercise in self-aggrandisement. The performance does take a while to get going ... The almost complete disappearance, destruction or even non-existence of Edgard Varèse's formative works makes it impossible to judge how indebted he might have been to Strauss ... An account where Metzmacher emphasizes the translucency of texture in the opening stages, as also the cumulative aggression of what follows".

"First, Ein Heldenleben, remarkable primarily for the forward momentum of Ingo Metzmacher's performance, the overall excellence of the Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester's playing and the sympathetic violin characterisation of Wei Lu ... A fascinating and exciting CD".

"I can sense Nézet-Séguin working masterfully towards some big climaxes, but the orchestral sound isn't intense enough to support the slower burns".

"Nézet-Séguin and his Rotterdammers certainly bring many thrills and beauties to this much-played piece ... Dorothea Röschmann is simply wonderful, soaring and expressive, blessed with a beautiful tone and painting the words with meaning".

"Vurdering: Record of the month" - "Ein Heldenleben was always a favourite party-piece of Herbert von Karajan, so the challenge to his successor, Simon Rattle, is all the more formidable. It says much for Rattle's achievement in Berlin that the result in this live recording offers the keenest rivalry for either of the outstanding versions I list".

"Vurdering: Gramophone choice" - "What I particularly like about this performance is its musical honesty ... Roth draws extremely fine playing from his orchestra".

"Vurdering: IRR outstanding" - "Leading the orchestra ... Roth obtains a magnificent response - considered and vital - finely prepared yet with an attractive spontaneity ... This marvellous work has rarely sounded as potent as here or as pertinently illuminated".

"Among latter-day accounts, Nelsons is more attuned to the work's purposefully ambiguous demeanour than Simon Rattle".

"Thomas Søndergård is kicking off a Strauss series with his new band, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra ... There's focus and tautness to the Dane's approach; and, though there's no shortage of incisiveness and character to the wind, his brass can seem well-behaved. The result is a Heldenleben that is more in its element in the intimate passages: 'The Hero's Works of Peace' is especially fine ... Similar virtues are in evidence in the Rosenkavalier Suite".