Strauss: Don Juan, Op. 20 & Eine Alpensinfonie (An Alpine Symphony), Op. 64 [Live] Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra & Mariss Jansons

• Richard Strauss (1864-1949): Don Juan, Op. 20, TrV 156
• 1 Don Juan, Op. 20, TrV 156 17:19
• Eine Alpensinfonie (An Alpine Symphony), Op. 64, TrV 233
• 2 Nacht (Night) 02:47
• 3 Sonnenaufgang (Sunrise) 01:22
• 4 Der Anstieg (The Ascent) 02:21
• 5 Eintritt in den Wald (Entry into the Wood) 05:16
• 6 Wanderung neben dem Bache (Wandering by the brook) 00:50
• 7 Am Wasserfall (At the Waterfall) 00:16
• 8 Erscheinung (Apparition) 00:50
• 9 Auf blumigen Wiesen (On Flowering Meadows) 01:01
• 10 Auf der Alm (On the Alpine Pasture) 02:27
• 11 Durch Dickicht und Gestrupp auf Irrwegen (Straying through Thicket and Undergrowth) 01:32
• 12 Auf dem Gletscher (On the Glacier) 01:24
• 13 Gefahrvolle Augenblicke (Dangerous Moments) 01:34
• 14 Auf dem Gipfel (On the Summit) 05:09
• 15 Vision 03:36
• 16 Nebel steigen auf (Mists rise) 00:19
• 17 Die Sonne verdustert sich allmahlich (The Sun gradually darkens) 00:59
• 18 Elegie 02:03
• 19 Stille vor dem Sturm (Calm before the Storm) 03:01
• 20 Gewitter und Sturm, Abstieg (Thunder and Storm, Descent) 04:01
• 21 Sonnenuntergang (Sunset) 02:38
• 22 Ausklang (Final Sounds) 06:30
• 23 Nacht (Night) 02:14
• Applause
• 24 Applause 00:30
• Total Runtime 01:09:59

Info for Strauss: Don Juan, Op. 20 & Eine Alpensinfonie (An Alpine Symphony), Op. 64 [Live]

After the successful release of Richard Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben in 2004, Mariss Jansons and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra once again present two familiar symphonic poems by Strauss, who had such close ties with the then fledgling Concertgebouw Orchestra.

This album brings together live performances of Don Juan and Eine Alpensinfonie which were recorded during the 2007–8 season and which met with great acclaim both in and outside the Netherlands. Although Don Juan and Eine Alpensinfonie were not dedicated to Willem Mengelberg and the Concertgebouw Orchestra, as Ein Heldenleben was, both works sound here as if they were written for the Amsterdam-based orchestra.

“Mariss Jansons opens with a very exciting account of Don Juan, splendidly played, with plenty of impetus, and a touchingly gentle and sensuous account of the seduction scene. His richly expansive shaping of the great horn theme presents Juan as a nobly romantic seducer rather than one carried away by physical passion. But this makes a fine introduction to a truly outstanding account of the Alpine Symphony that ranks alongside Wit's celebrated Naxos version (see below) with the Weimar Staatskapelle, and in some ways is even finer.
Jansons structures the work unerringly and the Concertgebouw sound picture, with extraordinary vividness of detail at every stage of the journey, is remarkable. The entry into the forest is evocative indeed, as are the hunting horns echoing in the woods, while the spectacle of the storm and summit sequences are electrifying; the closing sequence with the Amsterdam deep brass as night falls has a wonderfully rich sonor- ity. The Concertgebouw string-playing has, of course, an eloquent sweep, and if the violins are less sensuously ravishing than at Weimar (partly the effect of closer microphone placing in Amsterdam) they play particularly beautifully in the score's gentler moments.
In short, this magnificent performance, gripping from the opening to the last chord, will be hard to beat.” (Gramophone)

“…Mariss Jansons's… great lover is beefier if less nimble-footed than George Szell's (on Sony), with the woodwind repeated-note support crystal clear behind spacious strings. …Jansons's…Alpine Symphony… is unique in its grave beauty, and as fine a love recording as any we've had from the concert-halls of late.” (BBC Music Magazine)

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Mariss Jansons, conductor

Recorded live at Concertgebouw Amsterdam on 19, 20, 21 and 23 September 07 (Alpensinfonie) and 18, 21 October 2007, 16, 17 January 2008 (Don Juan)

No biography found.

Booklet for Strauss: Don Juan, Op. 20 & Eine Alpensinfonie (An Alpine Symphony), Op. 64 [Live]