Anja Harteros in Strauss, Brahms and Beethoven

Sometimes you have these CD’s that are only half successful. When soprano Anja Harteros started a 2009 recital with Haydn (too big), Beethoven (ok), Schubert (slow and unimpressive), and Schumann (missing the mark) I thought this was a wasted opportunity. But then, the night, a Richard Strauss song from 1885 and everything fell in to place… The voice fitted, the interpretation was spot on and the remainder of the CD glued me to the loudspeakers. I combined the successful part of the recital with a glorious 2009 recording of Strauss four last songs, live, with Mariss Jansons as conductor. The bonus is the two Beethoven songs from the recital, more opera arias than songs here, but a fine finish to this vocal playlist. 

Hope you will enjoy it a well…!

Richard Strauss

Track 01 Lieder, Op. 10: no 3, Die Nacht (1885)

Track 02 Lieder, Op. 37: no 3, Meinem Kinde (1897) 

Track 03 Lieder, Op. 39: no 4, Befreit (1897-8)

Track 04 Lieder, Op. 10: no 8, Allerseelen (1885)

Johannes Brahms 

Track 05 Lieder, Op. 59: no 8, Dein blaues Auge (1873)

Track 06 Lieder, Op.  3: no 1, Liebestreu (1853)

Track 07 Lieder, Op. 57: no 2, Wenn du nur zuweilen lächelst (1871)

Track 08 Lieder, Op. 96: no 1, Der Tod, das ist die kühle Nacht (1884)

Track 09 Lieder, Op. 49: no 2, An ein Veilchen (1868)

Track 10 Lieder, Op. 43: no 1, Von ewiger Liebe (1864)

Wolfram Rieger, Piano, 

Anja Harteros, Soprano

Rec 2009

Richard Strauss

Tracks 11-14 Vier letzte Lieder (1949)

Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks

Mariss Jansons

Anja Harteros, soprano

Rec Philharmonie im Gasteig, Munich 25-27 March 2009

Ludwig van Beethoven

Track 15 An die Hoffnung, Op. 94 (ca 1815)

Track 16 Zärtliche Liebe, WoO 123 "Ich liebe dich" (1794-5)

Wolfram Rieger, Piano, 

Anja Harteros, Soprano

Rec 2009

https://open.spotify.com/user/otterhouse/playlist/1PKdmB3n1BefD2wIeEKQW1?si=Qt_2h2cZSB2rtBYMGltClQ (Webplayer link)

Large classical tracks on Spotify

So you might not have actually a Spotify account and want some tracks that do not blast advertisements every five minutes? Well, here are three fine tracks, all lasting around 30 minutes. A fine (even better and fiery than his studio recording) Richard Strauss by Bernard Haitink, a lovely “almost a cello concerto” by Ernő Dohnányi and the son of Richard, yes, the Siegfried from the Siegfried idylle, Siegfried Wagner with one of his more successful works, the violin concerto of 1915.

Hope you will enjoy these works!

Richard Strauss (1864-1949)

Don Quixote, Op. 35 (1897) 

Carter Brey, cello

Cynthia Phleps, viola

New York Philharmonic

Bernard Haitink, conductor

Live recording November 2011

Ernő Dohnányi (1877-1960)

Konzertstück, for cello & orchestra in D major, Op. 12 (1904)

Maria Kliegel, cello

Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia

Michael Halász, conductor

Siegfried Wagner (1869-1930)

Violin Concerto (1915)

Ulf Hoelscher, violin

Rheinland-Pfalz State Philharmonic Orchestra

Werner Andreas Albert, conductor

https://open.spotify.com/user/otterhouse/playlist/6K7t5U3BGuHwUlDUtm5xt2

(Spotify web player link)

Carl Schuricht radio recordings (part 1 - 20 CD's)

Ok, normally I don’t buy CD’s anymore. But this 20 CD set was on my “omg I want to have this” list for several years. Also important, it was sold for a staggering 12 euro’s at a local CD shop. 

The box is dedicated to the German born (Gdansk, now Poland) Carl Schuricht (1880-1967), a name I knew from the many Musical Masterpiece Society LP’s he made. Although the orchestra’s on those LP’s are often not top class, Schuricht always knows how to get a crisp and lively performance from those sources. That same quality can be heard on this box with the Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart, radio recordings from the period 1950-1966. These radio recordings were the backbone of what German radio listeners on the radio, and for many (south)German people their first contact with classical music. The repertoire ranges from the standard repertoire to unknown, 19th and early 20th century Austro/German repertoire. From Arkiv I borrowed the tracklist of this box. Normally, the playlists on this blog are not that lengthy (assuming you want to listen to the playlists :-) so I added a hint where on the list the CD’s could be found.

Hope you will enjoy this splendid box as much as I did…! 

Tracks: 01 to 08 BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 7 10/24/1952 (33: 24). SCHUMANN Symphony No. 2 10/31/1959 (36:20) 

Tracks: 09 to 13 BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9 Maria Stader (sop); Marga Höffgen (alt); Murray Dickie (ten); Otto Wiener (bs); 9/13/1961 (64:24). Coriolan Overture 9/25/1952 (8:07) 

Tracks: 14 to 19 BRAHMS Symphony No. 2 3/16/1966 (41:30). Schicksalslied SWR Vocal Ensemble Stuttgart; 1/26/1954 (15:07). Nänie SWR Vocal Ensemble Stuttgart; 1/25/1954 (13:22) 

Tracks: 20 to 26 BRAHMS Ein Deutsches Requiem Maria Stader (sop); Hermann Prey (bar); SWR Vocal Ensemble Stuttgart; 11/7/1959 (68:12) 

Tracks: 27 to 30 BRUCKNER Symphony No. 4 4/5/1955 (69:03) 

Tracks: 31 to 34 BRUCKNER Symphony No. 5 10/18/1962 (72:54) 

Tracks: 35 to 40 BRUCKNER Symphony No. 7 3/6/1953 (60: 04). WAGNER Tristan und Isolde: Prelude and Liebestod 4/29/1950 (18:18) 

Tracks: 41 to 44 BRUCKNER Symphony No. 8 3/10/1954 (79:45) 

Tracks: 45 to 47 BRUCKNER Symphony No. 9 11/2/1951 (56: 00) 

Tracks: 48 to 53 GRIEG Im Herbst Concert Overture 12/2/1954 (11:21). BRUCH Violin Concerto No. 1 Hansheinz Schneeberger (vn); 9/15/1960 (25:11). GOETZ Violin Concerto Roman Schimmer (vn); 4/10/1953 (16:39). VOLKMANN Richard III Overture 9/12/1952 (13:23) 

Tracks: 54 to 64 HAYDN Symphony No. 100 4/8/1958 (22:27). Cello Concerto in D Enrico Mainardi (vc); 11/5/1950 (27:08). Symphony No. 95 4/5/1955 (19:52) 

Tracks: 65 to 92 MAHLER Symphony No. 3 Rut Siewart (mez); SWR Vocal Ensemble Stuttgart; Boys’ Choir of the Eberhard-Ludwig-Gymnasium Stuttgart; 4/7/1960 (66:40) R. STRAUSS Ein Alpensinfonie 1/4-7/1955 (45:32) 

Tracks: 93 to 106 MOZART Symphony No. 35 7/4/1956 (16:53). Symphony No. 38 7/4/1956 (23:05) Symphony No. 40 5/19/1961 (23:23). No, no che non sei capace K 419 Ruth-Margret Pütz (sop); 4/9/1959 (4:23). Le Nozze di Figaro: “Porgi, amor” Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (sop); 4/6/1959 (4:18). Die Zauberflöte: “Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön” Fritz Wunderlich (ten); 4/12/1959 (4:15) 

Tracks: 107 to 112 MOZART Piano Concerto No. 9 Clara Haskil (pn); 5/23/1952 (30:17)” Piano Concerto No. 19 Clara Haskil (pn); 7/4/1956 (27:17) 

Tracks: 113 to 125 VON REZNICEK Theme and Variations Barry McDaniel (bar); 12/2/1954 (17:17). R. STRAUSS Guntram: Overture 3/20-23/1956 (11:16). PFITZNER Käthchen von Heilbronn: Overture 1/20/1956 (12:26). REGER Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Mozart 11/5/1950 (31:45) 

Tracks: 126 to 134 SCHUMANN Manfred Overture 9/14-15/1960 (11:22). Overture, Scherzo, and Finale 9/21/1954 (16:09). MENDELSSOHN Hebrides Overture 1/4/1955 (10:06). Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage 3/10/1961 (12:27). Midsummer Night’s Dream: Overture, Nocturne, and Scherzo 1/26/1954 (21:46) 

Tracks: 135 to 141 WAGNER Parsifal: Act I Prelude 3/17/1966 (12:31). Parsifal: Good Friday Music 9/23/1954 (9:49). Parsifal: Act I Prelude 3/17-19/1966 (5:30). Tristan und Isolde: Act I Prelude 4/29/1950 (18:18). Götterdämmerung: Dawn and Siegfried’s Rhine Journey 9/28/1955 (11:10). Götterdämmerung: Siegfried’s Death and Funeral March 9/28/1955 (7:12) Siegfried Idyll 9/28/1955 (17:20) 

Tracks: 142 to 150 MAHLER Symphony No. 2 Hanni Mack-Cosack (sop); Hertha Töpper (alt); SWR Vocal Ensemble Stuttgart; Bach Choir Stuttgart; 4/17/1958 (45:43) HAYDN Symphony No. 86 5/20/1954 (25:26) 

https://open.spotify.com/user/otterhouse/playlist/7iRpka7cnjT2kMlMGCNLSG

(HTTP link)