Suites and Fantasies from Operas & Ballet
Richard STRAUSS (1864-1949)
Der Rosenkavalier Suite, Op. 59, TrV 227d [23:47]
Symphonic Fantasy on Die Frau ohne Schatten, TrV 234a [20:41]
Symphonic Fragment from Josephs Legende, TrV 231a [23:49]
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra/JoAnn Falletta
rec. Kleinhams Music Hall, Buffalo USA 31 March – 1 April 2008
NAXOS 8.572041 [68:17]
The great is the enemy of the good. A platitude I know but one of those that
has more than a grain of truth in it. So it was rather unfortunate that the
same packet that contained this disc for review also brought a disc by Karajan
and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra playing Richard Strauss that has knocked
me sideways with its brilliance. In that company competence is simply not
enough. JoAnn Falletta has been building a strong reputation with her Buffalo
players and a sequence of discs on Naxos and other labels has been generally
well received. Recently releases have seen them loosing the shackles of being
an “American band for American music” (it always drives any self-respecting
musician nuts when they become pigeon-holed like that) and moving into more
mainstream repertoire. This should not be any real surprise since the core
repertoire is the bread and butter of any orchestra’s season. But it does
beg the question whether on the world stage they have a particular take on
the music that demands attention. As performed here I would have to say as
far as Richard Strauss is concerned – no.
However, do not leap to any negative assumptions, this is a perfectly well
played, well (in the main) engineered and adequately interpreted CD of some
stunning music. Sadly, though that is all it is. The flaws are three as I
hear it. Firstly, Falletta does not have the natural quasi-vocal rubato absolutely
vital for pieces that are essentially theatrical. All too often a tempo is
set and the variation around that mean tempo feels neither convincing or emotionally
engaged. Just one for instance – 16:00 into the Rosenkavalier selection -
track 1 – the most famous and greatest moment in the opera the Act III, Trio:
Hab's mir's gelobt – where is the “smiling through tears” emotion and
cathartic release of its climax? Or the very opening of the same piece capturing
the bustling Viennese court leading to the exultant horn whoops – good horns
in Buffalo (no pun intended – its true) but the basic tempo is just too slow.
Try that great Straussian Norman del Mar on a venerable Classics for Pleasure
disc (CD-CFP 4552) – the LPO set off at a cracking pace and are swept to the
horn-led climax (Nicholas Busch - one assumes - as resplendent as ever) before
plunging onto into the extraordinary melodic riches of this compelling score.
Given this preference for a certain squareness of utterance perhaps it is
not surprising that Falletta is at her best in the ballet derived Josephs-Legende.
The final grand peroration as Joseph ascends into Heaven is powerful –
not totally surprising given that Strauss calls for an orchestra including
six horns, four trumpets, four trombones, quadruple woodwind including a contrabass
clarinet, harps, celesta, piano, organ and expanded strings – but again I
find myself admiring it, not overwhelmed as surely I should be. Compared to
Sinopoli in his complete recording with the Dresden Staatskapelle on Deutsche
Grammophon (DG 463 493-2) the orchestra does not expand to fill this gigantic
space. Which leads me onto the second major flaw; for all its qualities the
Buffalo Philharmonic is not world class. This is particularly apparent in
the strings whom, as recorded, cannot produce the wall of tone these opulent
scores require. The playing is fleet, nimble and accurate but it lacks that
saturated intensity (don’t mistake that for meaning uniformly loud) that the
best orchestras possess. Woodwind solos are taken tastefully and elegantly
but again lack the personality to transport the listener. Finally, the brass
are clearly a fine group of players but I don’t hear an integrated sound that
again can expand effortlessly, seemingly limitlessly, into the many epic Straussian
climaxes. To paraphrase Spinal Tap – they can’t go to 11! Which leads
me to the third and final flaw; Tim Handley has engineered many successful
discs for Naxos and other companies. I do not count this as one of his best.
Perhaps the venue is relatively unfamiliar or it was the sheer scale of the
orchestrations involved, but the sound here is not as detailed or well balanced
as many of his other discs. Worst affected is Der Rosenkavalier the
strings sounding positively recessed but with odd spotlighting on solo lines.
Things improve considerably through the other two suites but given that these
sessions were on consecutive days I find it hard to believe that the microphone
rig changed as much as it sounds like it did.
Of course there are positives. As ever the Naxos price advantage is a major
consideration. Each of these works is available elsewhere in frankly significantly
better versions but this particular coupling is unique. Rosenkavalier
is a masterpiece and this twenty-four minute traversal of it is well constructed.
Die Frau ohne Schatten is an opaque work at the best of times. A symbolic
plot of bafflingly complexity allied to terrifyingly taxing vocal parts has
meant that it has never conquered the repertoire so a suite like this is a
perfect way of sampling the piece. Falletta is better than an uninspired Barenboim
(coupled to a similarly disappointing Alpine Symphony with the Chicago
Symphony Orchestra on Erato) but far less theatrical than Karl-Anton Rickenbacher
and his rather good Bamberg Symphony (who are better recorded to boot) on
Koch Schwann (3-6533-2) Josephs-Legende is one of those pieces where
you feel that Strauss’ inspiration was deserting him hence the substitution
of orchestral trickery to cover the cracks left by thematic paucity. They
are pretty good tricks though and for those who enjoy a romantic wallow in
musical technicolour this might well be the piece for you. It does need a
Kempe (EMI CMS 7 64346 2) or a Sinopoli to provide the musical sleight of
hand that convinces you of greatness where otherwise it might not exist.
I felt that the Wit/Weimar Staatskapelle Alpine Symphony (Naxos
8.557811) was one of Naxos’ finest discs to date
and since they have followed this up with a fine Four Last Songs and
an impending Symphonia Domestica, which I am eager to hear, I am sorry
that they did not entrust that team with this repertoire.
A serviceable disc that does little to further the reputation of the artists
involved
Nick Barnard