PACO001: Die Fledermaus, Op. 56

In their 1956 book, The Record Guide, Edward Sackville-West and Desmond Shawe-Taylor, not a pair to mince their words, sit on the fence or hold back from expressing an opinion, wrote of this recording:

"It is scarcely possible to imagine a more delightful pair of records than the complete Decca Fledermaus. There is no spoken dialogue, but a virtually uncut performance recorded with good balance and a wonderful bloom on the vocal and orchestral tone. No better conductor could have been found for this delectable score than Clemens Kraus; he handles the detail with as much care as though it were Mozart...an almost incredible delicacy... Perhaps the greatest musical pleasure comes from Julius Patzakand Hilde Gueden [right, as Rosalinde]: their duet in the second act [Dieser Andstand]...is particularly ravishing. Apart from its musical and technical excellence, the recording has captured to a remarkable degree the illusion of a stage performance... This is one of the best opera sets yet published in England."

Pristine Audio is delighted to bring you an incredible brand new transcription and restoration of these discs from the golden ears of Peter Harrison of disk2disc. When I put it to Peter that Sackville-West and Shawe-Taylor seemed to like it quite a lot, he replied: "So do I - and I have five other recordings of it! The only one that comes close is a DVD with Carlos Kleiber."

This really is a masterful recording, lovingly restored from near-mint original vinyl, and sounding gorgeous - in this his first commercial remastering for Pristine Audio, Peter Harrison truly excelled!

Clemens Krauss

notes from Wikipedia

Clemens Heinrich Krauss (March 31, 1893 – May 16, 1954) was an Austrian conductor and opera impresario, particularly associated with the music of Richard Strauss.

Biography

Krauss was born in Vienna, the out-of-wedlock child of Clementine Krauss, then a 15-year-old dancer in the Vienna Imperial Opera Ballet, later a leading actress and operetta singer, who was a niece of the prominent nineteenth-century operatic soprano, Gabrielle Krauss (1842-1904). His natural father, the chevalier Hector Baltazzi (1851-1916), belonged to a family of wealthy Phanariot bankers resident in Vienna. Baltazzi's older sister Helene was married to baron Albin Vetsera and was the mother of Marie Vetsera, who was thus Clemens Krauss' first cousin.

As a boy, Krauss was a chorister in the Hofkapelle (Imperial Choir). He attended the Vienna Conservatory, graduating in 1912. He studied composition with Hermann Graedener and theory with Richard Heuberger. After graduation he was chorus master in the Brno Theater (1912-1913). There he made his conducting debut in 1913. The famous Romanian soprano Viorica Ursuleac, with whom he often performed, was his second wife.

Career

Krauss made the rounds of regional centers, conducting in Riga (1913-1914), Nürnberg (1915), and Szczecin (1916-1921), known then as Stettin. The latter appointment gave him ample opportunity to travel to Berlin to hear Arthur Nikisch conduct the Berlin Philharmonic, a major influence. Krauss's next post was back in Austria, where he became director of the opera and symphony concerts in Graz. In 1922 he joined the conducting staff of the Vienna State Opera and teacher of the conducting class at the State Academy of Germany. In 1923 he became conductor of the Vienna Tonkünstler Concerts until 1927, and Intendant of the opera in Frankfurt am Main and director of the Museum Concerts in 1924, until 1929.

Krauss visited the United States in 1929, conducting in Philadelphia and with the New York Philharmonic. Also in 1929 he became director of the Vienna State Opera. Its orchestra, in its independent concert form as the Vienna Philharmonic, appointed him its music director in 1930. He was a regular conductor at the Salzburg Festival from 1926 to 1934. In 1930 he conducted Alban Berg's Wozzeck.

In 1933 and 1934 Krauss gave up his Vienna positions, becoming director of the Berlin State Opera in 1935 after Erich Kleiber resigned in protest over Nazi rule. In 1933 he took over the preparations for the premieres of Strauss' Arabella when the conductor Fritz Busch (another non-Jewish anti-Nazi) left. Krauss' own position on Nazism was unclear although he enjoyed a close relationship with Nazi official Alfred Frauenfeld and it has been claimed that he sought Nazi Party membership in 1933. In 1937 he was appointed Intendant of the Nationaltheater München, following the resignation there of Hans Knappertsbusch. He became a close friend of Richard Strauss, for whom he wrote the libretto to the opera Capriccio which he premiered in Munich in 1942. Also, he conducted the premieres of Strauss's operas Friedenstag and Die Liebe der Danae.

After the Munich opera house was bombed, shutting it down, Krauss returned to conduct the Vienna Philharmonic until it closed shortly before the end of the War (1944-1945). After the War, Allied officials investigated his pro-Nazi activities and because of them forbade him from appearing in public until 1947. They also found that he had frequently acted to assist a number of individual Jews escape the Third Reich machine. When his ban was lifted he resumed frequently conducting the Vienna Philharmonic, including its famous New Year's Day concerts.

Following Krauss's rehabilitation he conducted at Covent Garden in London from 1951 and the Bayreuth Festival in 1953 . He died during a visit to Mexico City, and is now buried along with his wife, who died in 1985, in Ehrwald, Austria.

He did not make many recordings; but his 1950 performance of Johann Strauss II's Die Fledermaus, made in Vienna, is still regarded by some as the best one. His 1953 live performance of Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle from Bayreuth is highly regarded. A performance with the Vienna Symphony of Beethoven's Choral Fantasy, reissued on more than one inexpensive label since its original appearance on Vox Records, is also one of the few recordings featuring pianist Friedrich Wührer available on compact disc.

Notes from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clemens_Krauss

REVIEW OF STRAUSS - "DIE FLEDERMAUS"

People may argue over what is the greatest symphony (Beethoven’s Eroica or the Ninth) or the most perfect opera (Don Giovanni or Carmen), but it is universally agreed that Johann Strauss’ Die Fledermaus is the finest operetta ever written. The daring and even insanity of its plot, the party to end all parties given by Prince Orlovsky—the most blase of all teenagers, the denoument at the city jail where husband and wife discover that they have nearly been unfaithful but with each other, and the three-four time glory of the music can never be matched.

The same can be said of the performance by Clemens Krauss, the Vienna Philharmonic and Vienna State Opera Chorus and a stellar, to-the-manner-born set of soloists who simply have the technique and the style in their genes. In spite of many cuts, it is the ur-performance of Die Fledermaus. The later London Karajan Gala stereo with all its special artists does not touch it. Although every moment could be cited, certain parts just stand out. The Gueden/Lipp duet in the first act is such a perfect match of sopranos. Poell’s invitation to Patzak to come off to jail to serve his eight days is so lilting and inviting and their duet is so joyously accomodating that jail seems like such a wonderful place. Who would dare in the 21st century to use a waltz to arrest a man? The trio of leavetaking by Patzak, Gueden and Lipp where all are lying to each other by expressing sadness but actually contemplating amorous adventures is so joyously ironic that one is forced to laugh out loud. In Act II, the chorus at the Orlovsky party is as tipsy but nonetheless as precise as the soloists. In her aria “Mein Herr Marquis”, Lipp by the most brilliant coloratura convinces us that she couldn’t be a ladies’ maid, but, of course, she is. Und so weiter.

The remastering by Peter Harrison for Pristine Audio is at the same technical level as the performance. Sitting down with my pre-amp set to a reasonable volume level, I was stunned by the power, the richness and the clarity of the first three chords of the Die Fledermaus Overture. I could not believe I was listening to the thin, old Richmond recording. There was utter silence—no surface noise. The strings were silky, even transparent. The woodwinds were round. The brass cut, but they also glowed. But it’s the voices that told the tale. There was never a moment in about 70 minutes when there was any shrillness in either the soloists or the chorus. Even in the complex end to the Orlovsky party I could hear no distortion. There is some kind of a lambent glow over the proceedings that I didn’t know was in the original recording. Pristine Audio has done more than just clarify the champagne bubbles; they have drawn out for us the spirit of comedy and life that was heretofore hidden in this great recording.

Reviewer: Bill Rosen