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PASC009:
Vienna Philharmonic "New Year" Concert 1952
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Condutor:
Clemens Krauss Released
in 1952 as Decca LXT 2645
Duration 46'45"
Download ID: 106975/432795
By
Josef Strauss (below, left):
Mein
Lebenslauf ist Lieb und Lust
Die
Libelle
Jockey
By Johann
Strauss Jr. (cover, right):
Im
Krapfenwald'l
Eljen
a Magyar
G'schichten
aus dem Wiener Wald
Pizzicato
Polka (French Polka) (co-composed by Josef Strauss)
Ägyptischer
Marsch
Vergnügungszug
Play
sample piece:
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After
the Second World War, Clemens Krauss consolidated his position as the
Johann Strauss interpreter par excellence. The Strauss concerts
he gave in Vienna, each New Year, were famous - three of them were specially
recorded (probably in advance of the concert itself) by the superb audio
engineers at Decca, of which this, the first, is "pure
gold" (The Record Guide, 1956):
"The
Pièce de resistance is the full-length version of Tales
from the Vienna Woods, with the most delicious and nostalgic zither.
Im Krapdenwald (the name of a forest, presumably near Vienna) uses
Toy Symphony instruments, including a persistent and slightly out of tune
cuckoo... The Josef Strauss (right) pieces are fully worthy of their
company, especially The Dragonfly, which flits lazily over harmonies
that hardly stir in the summer heat. These are three of the most attractive
light music records in the whole catalogue."
[the last line refers also to the 1953 and 1954 releases]
Not surprisingly
then, this is another winner of the coveted double-star award, and is
a delight from start to finish. Another superb restoration by Peter Harrison
of disk2disc.
REVIEW
OF VIENNA PHILHARMONIC NEW YEAR CONCERT 1952 VPO - Krauss
The
Vienna New Years Day Concert is not a rather informal occasion
like the Boston Pops or the London Proms, but rather a greeting
to the New Year with joyful hope. The music played here was
composed in a time when there was great faith in human progress
and great belief in the triumph of Western Civilization. It
was performed in a recently de-Nazified Vienna anxious to
forget the rigors of war and Russian occupation and its rather
enthusiastic junior partnership with Germany. We are hearing
this splendid remastering in a time when Western Civilization's
future is dubious at best, save only its technology. So, let's
enjoy the technology.
The
performances are famous and incredibly good. No other orchestra
can perform this music written by Viennese for Viennese like
the Vienna Philharmonic. Few conductors other than Clemens
Krauss can play it to the manner born--the rubato is so natural;
the pauses are just right; the plunges are so thrilling. Perhaps
only Bruno Walter, Felix Weingartner and Willy Boskowsky can
match Krauss here. The drill sergeant Szell, the fine tool
polisher Reiner, the ersatz joymaker Maazel, the perfect Karajan,
even the lover Bernstein cannot match Krauss here.
The
transcriptions are magnificent in a very special way. They
do not sound like recordings made in 2005. They don't sound
like what a good seat in the balcony at the Vienna Philharmonic
would have sounded like (I've been there.) They sound like
the most natural vision I could imagine of the originals (I
have the originals). There is not a hint of stridency or artifice.
There is no unnatural edge, no distortion. The strings gleam,
but don't glitter. The cellos and basses have punch, but don't
growl. There is no detectable surface noise. The recording
of the waltz "Tales from the Vienna Woods" is quite
possibly the greatest musical/audio experience I've ever had
with a Johann Strauss composition. The magic zither introduction
and postlude is so perfectly reproduced that it does force
a nostalgic reminder of what we have lost.
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"The
Pièce de resistance is the full-length version of Tales
from the Vienna Woods, with the most delicious and nostalgic zither.
Im Krapdenwald (the name of a forest, presumably near Vienna) uses
Toy Symphony instruments, including a persistent and slightly out of tune
cuckoo... The Josef Strauss (right) pieces are fully worthy of their
company, especially The Dragonfly, which flits lazily over harmonies
that hardly stir in the summer heat. These are three of the most attractive
light music records in the whole catalogue." 
