Search - Richard Strauss, Clemens Krauss, Berlin Reichssenders Orchestra :: Strauss - Ariadne auf Naxos

Buyer beware!!!

Erik Aleksander Moe | Oslo, Norway | 03/26/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Any buyer of this must beware of the fact that the prologue of this issue is from Karl Bohm's 1944 recording with Maria Reining, Irmgard Seefried, Alda Noni and Paul Schoffler. Only the opera is recorded of this 1935 gem with Clemens Krauss, Viorica Ursuleac, Erna Berger and Helge Rosvaenge. The Krauss performance is some of the most beautiful of the opera part of the opera ever recorded, and Krauss handles the score with great love. Ursuleac is in such a great voice here before her vocal decline. Rosvaenge is also one the best Bacchus ever recorded.

I also recommend anyone interested in this one to get Karl Bohm's complete 1944 recording. It too is absolutely fantastic."

A Golden Age Souvenir

Paul A. Dunphy | Bogota, New Jersey USA | 09/16/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The sound of this Pre-War "Ariadne" is quite good considering that it is a live recording from the 1930s. The cast is standard Straussian fare from that era. Viorica Ursuleac created several of Strauss's heroines and here is a lovely Ariadne. Helge Roswaenge is not the heldentenor Bacchus we've come to expect but his sound is quite thrilling. Erna Berger is a bit of a letdown in the pyrotechnics of Zerbinetta but her youthful voice is welcome nonetheless. A big drawback is Opera d'Oro's failing to mention the singers in the prologue in the cast listing.
If you're looking for a recording of this opera for itself, choose one of the more recent stereo issues; but to hear this opera as it was performed in the composer's lifetime, you can't go wrong with this set."

Two genuine Golden Age performances, especially the 1944 Pro

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 10/17/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As a previous reviewer notes, this hybrid Ariadne mixes two different performances: a 1944 Prologue under Karl Bohm, done in concert, and a 1935 radio broadcast of the second-act opera under Clemens Krauss. For anyone who loves Ariadne, the performance of the Prologue, given in the aged composer's presence, offers some unqiue thrills. Irmgard Seefried, only 24 at the time, was in her first season at the Vienna State Opera. Squaring off with the commanding Music Master of Paul Schoffler, she delivers the performance of a lifetime -- spontaneous, scene-stealing, in perfect voice. All the ohter roles are never less than excellent, and Karl Bohm conducts with riveting dramatic excitement. The sound is clean and undistorted. A must-listen.



Clemens Krauss's radio version omitted the Prologue in 1935. Surprisingly, the sonics aren't that much worse than the later one -- all the voices are clear, and various kinds of gritch have been cleaned up, somewhat at the expense of the higher frequencies. This is also a Golden Age performance. Krauss's conducting is casually auathoritative. Erna Berger, already the greatest German coloratura of the era, turns Zerbinetta into a captivating character, more serious than soubrette. The color and range of her voice is astonishing. (Amazingly, there's minimal microphone distortion when she soars into the stratosphere.)



For many critics the prize here is the Bacchus of Helge Roswaenge, a famous Tamino for Beecham in his Zauberflote from the Thirties. He wasn't a heroic tenor, but this is one of the bravest, most passionate versions of a killer role that I've ever heard, bettered only by Ben Heppner for Sinopoli on DG (which is form decades later, of course).



In all, this is a historic treasure, odd as it may seem to glue two torsos together to make a whole.



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