Heldenleben

asin: B00000I75U binding: Audio CD list price: $16.98 USD amazon price: $16.98

One of Inbal's strongest suits as a conductor is ability to shape large-scale works effectively. Ein Heldenleben, a 45-minute single movement for huge orchestra, is one of the largest, as well as one of the most successful. Inbal succeeds in rooting out a continuous melodic line, which requires constant attention to the balances, and strong playing from the instrumentalists. The Suisse Romande has some impressive first-desk wind and brass soloists, and--except in the most massive passages, where it lacks the sheer heft of the great German orchestras--plays well. Don Juan, an marvelously energetic, swaggering portrayal, receives an effective performance, but not as well as does Heldenleben, which is comparable to the best already available. The recorded sound, on both works, is top-flight. --Paul Turok

asin: B00000604Q binding: Audio CD list price: $17.98 USD amazon price: $17.98 USD

Wilhelm Mengelberg was one of the great conductors of the century and this 1928 Heldenleben is one of the great recordings of the century. There's a comprehensive mastery in this recording that made it an instant classic when it was first released and it continues to repay repeated hearings. Mengelberg's interpretive subtleties enliven what often seems just a pot-boiler; his sensitive rubatos and discreet portamentos make phrases come alive. The orchestra is perfection itself, and concertmaster Scipione Guidi's rapt violin solos are riveting. Mark Obert-Thorn's transfers make the recording sound as if it was made two decades later. The Concertgebouw items, from 1938 and 1942, are also compelling, with a fleet, vivacious Don Juan the main attraction. --Dan Davis

asin: B000005E7M binding: Audio CD list price: $16.98 USD amazon price: $16.98

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra made one of the greatest recordings ever of Ein Heldenleben under Fritz Reiner, all the more reason to lament this 1991 release, the second of Daniel Barenboim's debut discs as the CSO's music director. It takes Barenboim just a few measures to dispel any notion that we are in for the kind of ride his predecessor gave the piece. The hero he portrays is a contemplative--one almost said self-absorbed--posturer, certainly not a man of action. From the flabby, grandiose treatment of the opening pages, through the cluttered mess of The Hero's Battlefield and its anticlimactic reprise of the hero's theme, to the glutinous hyperlegatos of The Hero's Works of Peace (where one of the harps is noticeably out of tune) and the Hollywood bathos of the score's denouement, this is as uninspiring a rendition as can be found. Only one ray of insight penetrates the darkness here, and that is co-concertmaster Samuel Magad's sympathetic portrait of "The Hero's Helpmate." The account of Till Eulenspiegel which prefaces the disc exhibits the same lack of attention to balances and textural detail that typified Barenboim's work in Paris, though the CSO still manages to play the piece with knife-edge precision and near-perfect attacks and releases. Erato's sound is decent, no better: the bass is tubby and poorly defined, the solo winds and the horns are unnaturally recessed, and the soundstage is only vaguely suggested. --Ted Libbey

asin: B00005KBM8 binding: Audio CD list price: $6.98 USD amazon price: $6.98 USD

Nimble Mobility, Fineness of Accentuation, Clarity in Polyphonic Textures and a Lyricism which Steers Clear of Emotionalism Characterize Zinman'svision of Richard Strauss's Orchestral Works. As Required, Strauss's Arches of Melody Surge Forwards, Swell Or Soar to the Heights. An Excellentrecording.