The three discs in this boxed set were originally released
as separate volumes over a decade beginning in the early 1980s.
This reissue repeats the original promises of "first ever
recordings of works by the Strauss family and their Viennese
contemporaries, performed complete, in the original instrumentation."
That is mostly but not entirely accurate, as the track-listing
itself makes clear: two of Carl Millöcker's three pieces are
arrangements by contemporaries, Johann Strauss II's Klug
Gretelein is a reconstruction by John Bell, and his Nur
Nicht Mucken an orchestration by Edward Peak, as is Eduard
Strauss's Österreichs Völker-Treue.
The box itself is also somewhat misleading, in that the prominence
of Marilyn Hill Smith's name will almost certainly cause the
casual browser to expect her contribution to amount to more
than ten minutes. Moreover, the "Johann Strauss Orchestra"
in modern parlance is impresario André
Rieu's band - considerably more high-profile these days
than the ensemble for these Chandos recordings, the Vienna
Johann Strauss Orchestra. A further labelling curiosity
is the fact that the original Volume 3 credits the "Viennese
Orchestra of London", which was Jack Rothstein's own ensemble,
yet this new set mentions only the Johann Strauss Orchestra.
Main contributions to the three volumes are 9 pieces by Johann
Strauss II, 10 by his younger brother Josef, and 11 by the youngest
of the trio, Eduard. There are 2 by their father Johann Strauss
I also, and 2 more by Eduard's son, Johann Strauss III. Finally,
for extra interest, or comparison's sake, there are pieces by
prominent contemporaries: 3 by Carl Millöcker, 2 by Carl Michael
Ziehrer and a single from Philipp Fahrbach Jnr. All of these
are mixed together in the recordings for variety.
There are waltzes, various kinds of polkas and marches, the
majority around three minutes in length. On each CD there are
three or four longer works, coming in at between seven and ten
minutes. Many of the pieces have titles that are amusingly quaint,
and several that sound peculiarly Eastern Bloc: Freedom March,
Happy Life Waltz, March Past March, Forwards!
Polka, Hectograph Polka, Sowing and Harvest
Polka, Subscribers Waltz. Oddly enough, the booklet
notes, furnished by the Johann
Strauss Society of Great Britain, describe the almost Marxist-style
backgrounds to many of the pieces. For example, Johann II's
Concurrenzen Waltz was written for the 1862 Industrial
Societies Ball; Eduard's Hectograph is dedicated to the
Technical Engineers ball's organising committee; and his Saat
und Ernte was composed for the 1877 International Grain
and Seed Congress!
The style of all the music here will be familiar to everyone
who has ever seen the Vienna Philharmonic's famous New Year's
concerts from the Musikverein, broadcast annually to seventy-odd
countries. For those that really have no idea, this enthusiastic
review
of Volume 3 in 1999 gives a description of what this genre sounds
like, whilst this review
of the Decca DVD recording of the 2010 New Year's Concert gives
a good idea of the diverting atmosphere the music automatically
catalyses.
There is no denying that much of it is decidedly light, the
Polkas most of all. Rothstein's deliberately upbeat tempos do
little to downplay this impression. Yet there are also several
beautifully crafted gems strewn amongst the frothier fare, all
nicely played by the JSO. Highlights from CD 1 include Josef's
lovely, lilting Frohes Leben Waltz - ironically written
the year before his untimely death - and Eduard's jaunty Hectograph
Polka. From CD 2, Eduard's masterly blending of themes from
no less than two dozen of his brother Johann's works and Johann
III's invigorating schnell polka, Schlau-Schlau.
From CD 3, Johann III's Berlin-inspired Unter den Linden,
Philipp Fahrbach II's Storchschnäbel - the 19th
century equivalent of John Adams' Short Ride in a Fast Machine,
but less tedious! - Eduard's finest hour, his Schleier und
Krone Waltz, Johann I's cheeky Carneval in Paris,
and his Freiheits-Marsch, which is crying out for military
band advocacy.
Sound quality is good throughout, especially considering the
age of the recordings. The booklet is clean, glossy and informative.
The notes are straight from the originals, with updated biographies,
though there is still no information on this Johann Strauss
Orchestra, which is all the more peculiar for the fact that
Marilyn Hill Smith, for her contribution to two out of 45 tracks,
fine as it is, receives almost as much space as Jack Rothstein.
The three CDs come in card sleeves, housed in a sturdy, lustrous
box.
Byzantion
Collected reviews and contact at reviews.gramma.co.uk
Track-listing
CD 1
Carl MILLÖCKER (1842-1899)
Die Sieben-Schwaben-Marsch (arr. Carl Wilhelm Drescher (1850-1925))
[3:36]
Jonathan-Marsch (arr. Ludwig Schlögel (1844-1894)) [3:06]
Johann STRAUSS II (1825-1899)
Concurrenzen, op.267 [10:40]
L'Inconnue, op.182 [2:13]
*Neuer Csárdás (1896) for 'Die Fledermaus' [3:55]
Hoch Österreich!, op.371 [2:32]
Alexandrinen-Polka, op.198 [3:38]
Eduard STRAUSS (1835-1916)
Knall und Fall, op.132 [3:00]
Leuchtkäferln, op.161 [9:47]
Hectograph, op.186 [2:12]
Josef STRAUSS (1827-1870)
Frohes Leben, op.272 [9:57]
Vorwärts!, op.127 [3:00]
Nachtschatten, op.229 [3:48]
Elfen-Polka, op.74 [3:10]
CD 2
Josef STRAUSS
For Ever, op.193 [2:44]
Defilir-Marsch, op.53 [2:54]
Farewell!, op.211 [1:47]
Eduard STRAUSS
Blüthenkranz Johann Strauss'scher Walzer, op.292 [12:44]
Saat und Ernte, op.159 [2:23]
Weyprecht-Payer-Marsch, op.120 [2:55]
Mädchenlaune, op.99 [3:30]
Die Abonnenten, op.116 [8:16]
Johann STRAUSS II
Pappacoda, op.412 [3:09]
Quadrille nach Motiven der Operette 'Der lustige Krieg', op.402 [5:04]
*Klug Gretelein, op.462 (reconstructed John Bell) [8:22]
Johann STRAUSS III (1866-1939)
Schlau-Schlau, op.6 [2:24]
CD 3
Eduard STRAUSS
Österreichs Völker-Treue, Op. 211 (orch. Edward Peak) [2:52]
Blauäuglein, op.254 [3:03]
Schleier und Krone, op.200 [8:15]
Carl Michael ZIEHRER (1843-1922)
Casimir-Walzer, op.551 [6:58]
Die Lustigmacherin, op.4 [2:46]
Carl MILLÖCKER
Klopf' an! (Polka Française from: Die Sieben Schwaben) [3:31]
Johann STRAUSS III
Unter den Linden, op.30 [7:45]
Johann STRAUSS II
Nur Nicht Mucken!, op.472 (orch. Edward Peak) [3:35]
Josef STRAUSS
Wallonen-Marsch, op.41 [2:43]
Pauline, op.190b (2nd version) [4:03]
Zeit-Bilder, op.51 [7:47]
Philipp FAHRBACH Jnr (1843-1894)
Storchschnäbel, op.149 [2:40]
Johann STRAUSS I (1804-1849)
Freiheits-Marsch, op.226 [2:40]
Der Carneval in Paris, op.100 [2:30]
Marilyn Hill Smith (soprano)*
