May: R. Strauss - Don Quixote

[bombasticDarren]

Richard Strauss. Where does one start with Richard Strauss? Most probably with Also sprach Zarathustra if my experience is anything to go by. Perhaps inevitably as a junior film buff back in the early 1990’s I first heard ASZ is Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Anyway, enough of that. This is about Don Quixote; which I guess can be described as one of Strauss’s tone poems. These tone poems which I heard so much about at the beginning of my CM journey five years ago, were things I was truly looking forward to hearing (I wanted the Kempe box set, but it was too pricey; I settled for Karajan ;-)). Why was I looking forward to them? Well, I had a thing for large orchestras at the time and I was informed that in these pieces was where they were to be found…it's as simple as that!

Only the tone poems didn’t appeal straight away. They were supposed to. I’d managed to ‘get’ Mahler, and I was told that he and Strauss were contempories (friends even) and shared some musical similarities. My assumption is that I had, in my first exposure to orchestral music, focussed on the symphony form and the freewheeling, 'painting pictures with music' approach didn’t fit in with what I was used to. I was very naïve then, and I guess I may be still in some respects. So, all-in-all, this turn of events was rather dispiriting.

Now, as time has moved on and my listening has developed, the Strauss tone poems are easier for me to enjoy. I particularly like Don Juan and Ein Heldenleben; but Don Quixote? I can’t get into it.

This thread then will be an attempt by me to 1) explain the history of the piece, by 2) movement by movement discussing the ‘plot’, and 3) my last attempt to get some help in understanding why so many other people like it. Hopefully, I will be able to learn from your experiences and maybe (by forcing myself to listen to it) I will finally ‘get’ it. Either that, or I’ll give up on it for a few years…

The recording of the piece I will start with will be Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra below



It’s widely held to be a definitive recording and, purely in terms of the sound produced, the best I have heard. I will try some other recordings out that I have also and I would like you all to join me by dusting off some of your on Don Quixote recordings and letting us know their strengths/weaknesses (I have no qualms if this thread morphs into a mini Building a Library)

Note: I am not an authority on music so any technical information I offer will be second-hand (but hopefully valid). Feel free the broaden the discussion if you have a deeper musical understanding that I do…

[fergus]

Very good introduction and an interesting start Darren. My initial response at this stage would be that any music that has to be forced is not worth it, even that of Richard Strauss. One runs the risk of "killing" it altogether. I look forward with interest to see how this thread develops....best of luck with it!

[Diapason]

I like the sound of this, actually, as it kind of turns the thread on its head from the word go. Don't have a recording on my shelf, so I'll sort that out today.

[Seán]

That is a very good introduction Darren, well done. I don't have a copy of Don Quixote either. I am tempted to get a copy of the Reiner Strauss set.

[Jared]

Gentlemen, if like Sean you don't own Don Quixote or indeed many of the Strauss Orchestral works, then I would STRONGLY recommend the 9 CD Kempe set with the SD... it has recently been re-issued by Brilliant at a highly competitive price and is quite simply a standard-bearer in this repertoire... sooner or later, you will end up purchasing this set, so you might as well do so now...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Richard-Strauss ... 402&sr=1-1

;-)

[fergus]

Given my great affection for the music of R Strauss I have to be very careful and restrain my enthusiasm in this particular thread but in this case all that I will say is that I endorse what Jared has just said.

[Diapason]

I ordered a couple of readings yesterday, but if I like the piece I might be tempted to get that set. The ones purchased so far were dead cheap.

[Seán]

Gentlemen, if like Sean you don't own Don Quixote or indeed many of the Strauss Orchestral works, then I would STRONGLY recommend the 9 CD Kempe set with the SD... it has recently been re-issued by Brilliant at a highly competitive price and is quite simply a standard-bearer in this repertoire... sooner or later, you will end up purchasing this set, so you might as well do so now...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Richard-Strauss ... 402&sr=1-1

;-)

In preference to Reiner and the CSO! WOW! It must be good.

Uh-oh! My lovely wife has just informed me that my Bach CDs arrived this morning.

[Jared]

In preference to Reiner and the CSO! WOW! It must be good.

Gramophone exclaims 'What a good Staussian he was!' after giving him their coveted Crystal, whilst the PG gives several of his interpretations the 'key recordings' symbol... it would be a little like asking whether Gunter Wand was any good at Bruckner or Solti at Mahler...

put it this way, the critics may sometimes shade him out in favour of another conductor for a specific work, but all 9 of those disks will come somewhere in the top 3 interpretations of any work.. it is in essence a copper-bottomed guaranteed essential for any collection of late Romantic works which as an orchestral survey, will probably never be bettered... and I don't say that about many recordings...

[james]

I have orderred this .. [from amazon.co.uk marketplace] ..



I don't think I have ever heard the piece ..

james