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5.0 out of 5 stars
Underrated Strauss and one of the best Planets ever., April 30 2004
Among recommended recordings of Also Sprach Zarathrustra by Richard Strauss, this is one seldom mentioned. Before this recording, I listened to Tennstedt, Reiner (1964) and Karajan and only this recording blows me away. Listening it in my car, living room stereo, or even through my Discman, this recording is exciting. There is lush lyricism, massive voices and fiery passion, despite the speed of this recording that could turn off seasoned Straussians. The famous introduction has the best organ chord at the end, I think largely due to the accoustics of Boston Symphony Hall, one of the best in the world. The strings surprisingly has Viennese nuances and the highlight is Joseph Silverstein's solo performance, which is a delight to listen to and my favorite *concertmaster* violinist. The recording has sardonical wit and humor that all Zarathrustra recordings I hear lacked. The Planets, no need to for me to add, is a reference performance, although "Jupiter" for me is too dry and lacked the excitement of Boult and Rattle has. Sadly there are too few of Steinberg's recordings with Boston Symphony and they're finished when Ozawa took over. Can James Levine bring them back to the former glory of kouzzevetsky, Munch or Steinberg?
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5.0 out of 5 stars
A Masterful Reading of Two Twentieth-Century Favorites, Jan 31 2004
This really is one of the best "Planets" I've ever heard, if not THE best. The transition from the cruel, marching onslought of Mars, to the lush, welcoming orchestral sweetness and warmth of Venus is the most touching bridge you can hear placed between such opposing musical ideas. And the other movements continue to bring the listener further and further inward. The music really is astounding. The only thing that I really don't understand here is why Steinberg chose to be so sloppy with his Mars tempos. In fact, Mars is the only section here that really bothers me. It doesn't pack the usual emotional weight, because you don't get the subtle undertones of fear and dread in the build-up. In fact, there are moments when the orchestra sounds completely arrhythmic, like they themselves don't know where they should be at the moment. I don't understand those reviewers who say that a faster Mars makes for a more exciting Mars. I couldn't disagree more, but that's just my opinion. Still, it's a wonderful piece of music, and a great recording despite its flaws. Jupiter (my personal favorite movement of the piece) truly is played with jollity. I almost imagine a drunken, giddy banquet, interspersed with brief moments of solemnity and brotherhood. Saturn truly creaks and wheezes with the rheumatism and meandering sentiment of old age. Uranus sizzles with magical meanness and mischief, and Neptune sparkles with mysterious promise, beckoning us from the depths of the unknown. Plus, a wonderful placement of Richard Strauss' "Thus Spake Zarathustra" rounds out the package, making this disc choc-full of content at over seventy-five minutes long! How much more star-gazing could you ask for? The Planets were truly in allignment when Steinberg recorded this one.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Out of this world, Jul 26 2003
Linked by their associations with "outer space" (an association forced on Strauss' "Also sprach Zarathustra" by its use in "2001: A Space Odyssey), these two showpieces for orchestra have kept company on CD (and cassette) before. For example, there's a Double Decca two-fer with Zubin Mehta conducting the L.A. Philharmonic in audiophile-quality recordings from the early '70s. But as far as I know this DG Originals reissue is the only single-CD set combining both works. One reason it's not done more often is that "Zarathustra" generally comes in at 33-35 minutes and Holst's "The Planets" usually runs 48-51 minutes, for a total playing time that's too long for one CD. William Steinberg's fastish tempi make this coupling possible--his 29:56 for "Zarathustra" may be the swiftest on record, and "The Planets" comes in at about 46 minutes here. However, such was this underrated, under-recorded conductor's natural sense of flow that nothing sounds rushed or glided over. He takes to "The Planets," a work he apparently learned only just prior to making this recording, with as little apparent effort as he does to the Strauss tone poem that had certainly been a part of his repertoire for decades. Not to mince words, this is a disc to treasure, even if you already have other recordings of both works. If you don't, you may decide you're set for life with this CD.
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