Strauss - Overtures / Polkas / Waltzes [Fricsay-Radio Symphonie Orchester Berlin]Now here's a disc i'm really excited about, i bought this on Ebay this year, i especially looked on the German Ebay site, and saw this disc for auction, and not available in England, it looked so good, i convinced the guy to let me bid, even though he only posts to Germany, it's discs like this, i wouldn't acquire any other way, i've never seen this disc before, and i'm not sure i'll see one again, they're a 'buy it now' or 'never buy it' type of disc.
Ferenc Fricsay is Hungarian, born in 1914, and died in 1963, i believe this disc was recorded in 1961, and this is the first time that Johann Strauss appears in my Blog, i wonder why i kept him waiting so long?.
Deep down it's the front booklet that is fantastic [photograph by Gerhard Noack], a truly pin sharp shot, from high up in the gallery, showing the waltzers below, even far at the other end of the hall the lights are in focus and sharp, the gallery on the left gives great perspective / height to the picture, plus the bold yellow 'Johann Strauss' is perfect, a truly wonderful visual, and i'm sure this disc will develop into a treasure, this could be my 'disc of the month' already, and it's only the 4th!.
And the music is even better!, yes it's a recording that is 50 years old, and the sound is somewhat brittle, there isn't a warm glow to the recording, but it's still a great stereo sound, your ears quickly adjust, the spirit of the music has a champagne fizz to it, nice and bubbly perfect, one section naturally follows on from another, and in the more complex / virtuoso passages, it's so good to hear it perfectly played by these musicians, this disc easily makes me fall in love with Strauss more, plus Eijen a Magyar! [Hail to Hungary!] is new to me, and i like it a lot, a nice little discovery.
Well it's an excellent mix of works from Strauss, and even though it's the Radetzky March that makes the immediate impression, it ultimately has to bow to the Blue Danube Waltz, which wins long term, as it's secrets are slowly unravelled and revealed, one amazing thing i notice about this piece, is a distant similarity to Ravel's Bolero!, where the same piece of music is played again and again, but in a different guise each time, the Danube Waltz is like that, but instead there's like three different tunes that rotate, like 1 2 3, 1 2 3, but a lot looser and varied, it's really hard to pick any spot in particular to point out, as they all blend so well into each other, so here's some highlights in order of appearance,
Shimmering Strings [0:00], it starts off with throbbing strings coming in from silence, like out of the mist, and building up in intensity.
Mystic Horns [0:04], almost off-stage sounding, like they're coming into focus.
Piccolo intro [1:00], almost like a secondary intro before the main tune.
The Main Tune [1:27], here's the famous tune, played slow and hesitatingly at first, but soon picking up speed to a grand pompous climax.
Clarinet Trills [2:16 & 2:18], a change of direction, and a couple of clarinet flourishes make a great effect.
High Strings [2:43], high in the treble, a piercing shrillness, but sweet and very contrasting, Strauss knows how to keep your interest up.
Carousel Waltz [3:01], yep, imaging one of those things at the fairground, with the horses going up and down, this is what i think of when i hear this passage.
Woozy Waltz [3:17], imagine the orchestra just a bit tipsy, a really lazy waltz, staggering and cutting corners.
Piccolo Waltz [3:54], ok they might not be piccolos, but they sound like it at first.
Trumpet Oompah 1 [4:20, 4:23, 4:25 & 4:30], the trumpets blast out after every whoop from the strings, a really lovely effect.
Trumpet Oompah 2 [4:41, 4:44 & 4:51], and a second dosage!.
Drum Roll [4:54], a sharp roll on the drums, and some more frantic high strings.
Pizzicato Strings [5:42, 5:46, 6:03 & 6:07], low bass pizzicato, nicely in the background, but adding to the waltz immeasurably.
Brass Band [6:15], a trumpet fanfare, and the whole thing explodes into a forte, with brass blazing away, and military drums, i think this is my favourite moment in the whole piece.
Trumpet Oompah 3 [6:48 & 6:52], more trumpet blasts if you missed it the first time around.
Hesitating Serenade [7:03], hesitating at first, but a lovely serenade to waltz to.
Piccolos & Flutes [7:19], the pipers in the band pipe up!.
Trumpet Oompah 4 [7:44, 7:46 & 7:53], a slow waltz with some more trumpet blasts, i guess Strauss liked these, you just can't keep those Trumpeters quiet.