Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor Rob Barnett Editor in Chief
John Quinn Contributing Editor Ralph Moore Webmaster
David Barker Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf MusicWeb Founder Len Mullenger
Johann
STRAUSS II (1825–1899)
19 Waltzes
CD 1
1. An der schönen blauen Donau,
Op. 314 [9:25]
2. Rosen aus dem Süden, Op.
388 [7:53]
3. Wiener Blut, Op. 354 [7:16]
4. Frühlingsstimmen, Op. 410
[5:51]
5. Künstlerleben, Op. 316
[8:03]
6. Geschichten aus dem Wienerwald,
Op. 325 [11:00]
7. Kaiser-Walzer, Op. 437 [10:18]
8. Morgenblätter, Op. 279
[8:25]
9. Accelerationen, Op. 234 [7:58]
CD 2
1. Lagunen-Walzer, Op. 411 (from
Eine Nacht in Venedig)[7:53]
2. Schatz-Walzer, Op. 418 (from
Der Zigeunerbaron) [7:10]
3. Du und Du, Op. 367 (from Die
Fledermaus) [6:32]
4. Wein, Weib und Gesang, Op. 333
[5:59]
5. Donauweibchen, Op. 427 [7:46]
6. Wiener Frauen, Op. 423 [7:59]
7. Feuilleton, Op. 293 [8:22]
8. Flugschriften, Op. 300 [8:18]
9. Gedankenflug, Op. 215 [10:04]
10. Leitartikel, Op. 273 [8:45]
Wiener Johann Strauss-Orchester/Willi
Boskovsky
rec. Baumgartner-Kasino, Wien, March 1982
(CD1 tr. 1-7), December 1980 (CD 1 tr
8, 9 and CD 2 tr. 1, 2), November 1984
(CD 2 tr. 3, 4), April 1984 (CD 2 tr.
7-10) and at Studio Rosenhügel, Wien,
in December 1985 (CD 2 tr. 5, 6)
EMI CLASSICS 0946 3 81524 2 2 [76:14
+ 78:53]
The Vienna Johann Strauss
Orchestra was founded in 1965 and its
first conductor was Eduard Strauss,
grand nephew of Johann Strauss II. On
Eduard’s death in 1968, Willi Boskovsky
took over and after his death Walter
Goldschmid, Rudolf Bibl and Kurt Wöss
have carried on the tradition. They
have toured worldwide and given concerts
in their hometown, not only with music
by members of the Strauss family but
other ‘light’ music by Austrian composers.
It is a medium-sized orchestra in symphonic
terms, with strings numbering 10, 5,
3, 3, 3 and winds 2, 2, 2, 2, 4, 2,
1, 1, 1 and adding harp and other extra
instruments when needed. This was, I
suppose, approximately the size of the
original Strauss Orchestra after the
death of Johann I in 1849, when Johann
II merged his father’s and his own into
one orchestra.
Willi Boskovsky (1909–1991),
who was concert master of the Vienna
Philharmonic Orchestra from 1936 to
1979, became a legend when he took over
the New Year’s Concerts at Musikverein
in 1955 after the demise of Clemens
Krauss. When from the mid-1960s the
concert was televised, his warm smile
and elegant fiddling in front of the
orchestra made him almost a family member
in millions of living rooms all over
the world. For 25 years he went on until
in 1979 he stepped down due to precarious
health. Having practically grown up
with Boskovsky’s readings with the Vienna
Phil, first on the radio and later on
TV, I know what these Strauss waltzes
should sound like: the silken strings,
the balanced brass, the delicate or
sometimes naughty woodwind and the elegant
lilt of the playing with those inimitable
rubatos, never overdone as with some
conductors, who want to create an image
for themselves. These recordings, which
were all made after his tenure as conductor
of the New Year’s Concerts, are not
quite what I expected.
It may be argued that
this orchestra, having been playing
this kind of music for 15 to 20 years
when the recordings were made, most
of the time under Boskovsky, must be
regarded as the real experts in this
field, whereas the Vienna Phil primarily
play it once a year. I also believe
that there are two different approaches
but with Boskovsky as a common factor.
The Vienna Phil is a symphony orchestra
which happens to play Strauss music
once in a while and do so as concert
music, the Strauss Orchestra try to
recreate as truly as possible what the
music sounded like in Strauss’ time
– and his field was primarily the ballroom.
For listening purposes the conductor
can be flexible, make a ritardando here,
a heavy accent there, cajole the phrases
for maximal effect, find what we like
to call Viennese charm; for dancing
purposes – at least when the dancers
are not professionals – the tempo has
to be fairly strict and as few agogic
surprises as possible. Of course these
recordings were not made primarily for
dancing but I believe there was some
kind of striving to recreate an authentic
sound – a period performance, comparable
to the period performance practice of
baroque music. So without pressing the
issue too much I can detect lighter
textures – it’s an orchestra practically
half the size of the Vienna Phil – less
heavy accents and a more straightforward
feeling. Sometimes it can be too matter-of-fact,
Rosen aus dem Süden is close
to prosaic, and there are again and
again places where the music feels hard
driven, even strident. Moreover the
strings are not always as soft and classy
as the VPO’s.
Does all this sound
negative? If that’s the case it is certainly
not my intention. In many ways I find
this approach refreshing and there is
no lack of finesse but it is, so to
speak, underplayed. In the introductions,
which often are the kernels, compositionally
speaking at least, there is both elegance
and sophistication – just try the opening
of Geschichten aus dem Wienerwald,
possibly the most magic music Strauss
ever wrote – and the magic is there,
unadulterated. The coda of Kaiser-Walzer
is another magic moment and I could
mention many more. What is most remarkable
– and that becomes especially obvious
when listening to these nineteen waltzes
in a row – is how inventive and many-faceted
Strauss’ music is, even within the formula-ridden
frame of a Vienna waltz: an introduction,
often slow and not in ¾-time, then a
sequence of, normally, five waltzes
and then a coda with some relation to
the introduction. Nineteen waltzes in
a row is definitely not the best way
of appreciating this music and the original
issues, five LPs, had a mix of waltzes
and polkas. Anyone with a special fancy
for just waltzes will however have his
fill here. All the well-known pieces
are here, mostly on CD1; only Wein,
Weib und Gesang is on CD2, but there
we also get some lesser known pieces
which are just as inspired and entertaining,
Wiener Frauen, for example, where
the timpani repeatedly roll like a distant
thunderstorm in the background and Flugschriften,
which is brimful with fresh and attractive
melodies and high spirits. It is interesting
to note that several pieces have titles
alluding to the printed word: besides
Flugschriften (Pamphlets), we
have ‘Morning Papers’, ‘Literary Essay’
and ‘The Leading Article’. The first
three waltzes on CD2 should also be
well-known to most readers, since they
are drawn from Strauss’ most loved operettas:
Eine Nacht in Venedig, Der Zigeunerbaron
and Die Fledermaus.
The most unusual composition
here – and also the earliest – is Gedankenflug
(Flight of Fancy), which stems from
a period when Johann, inspired by his
brother Josef, started to write concert
waltzes, more symphonically designed
and really a kind of symphonic poem.
The publisher saw no future – read:
money – in this and persuaded the brothers
to return to pure dance music.
There can be no complaint
concerning the sound and the liner notes
by Peter Avis give a good background
to the Strauss dynasty and the Vienna
waltz as a phenomenon.
Anyone who likes the
idea of performing this music à
la ballroom instead of concert hall
will find much to admire here.
Reviews
from previous months Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the
discs reviewed. details We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin
Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to
which you refer.