Search - Alexander Borodin, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Herbert von Karajan :: Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade

Fine Playing

07/04/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I am not, generally speaking, a Von Karajan fan. But this recording is top-notch, rivaling (though not surpassing) the famous Beecham recording with the Royal Philharmonic (and with better acoustics.) The stars of this recording are not the conductor, but the individual players of the Berlin Phil, beginning with a most wonderful performance by Michael Schwalbe, the concertmaster playing the violin solos. (indeed it was for these that I purchased this recording.) But each player in virtually every section gets his moment, and illustrates why, during this period, the Berlin was the standard by which all other orchestras were measured.My one disappointment is that the sonic extremes of the recording make it difficult for me to enjoy on my car stereo."

Karajan joins the classic Scheherazades, but not at the very

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 09/28/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"All the virtues mentioned by other reviewers are certainly here, but this warhorse has received at least half a dozen great performances, and quite a few are either in better sound or give a more Slavic flavor. For sheer vulgar impact--why not?--nothing surpasses Stokowski on London's Phase 4, with its super-highlighted solos. Reiner's version with Chicago has stood the test of time for four decades and is the opposite of Stokowski's reading, being virtuosic but without vulgarity or melodrama, just perfect balance and incredible solo work. Gergiev has a recent version on Philips in excellent digital sound with highly detailed orchestral work--and the list goes on through Kondrashin, Jansons, Chailly, Temirkanov, two other rip-roaring Stokowskis (one on EMI, the other on RCA), and not least the treasurable Beecham on EMI.



That said, I would put this Karajan performance near the top for its sheer virtuosity but not at the summit itself."