Fantasy Woman

Track Listings

1. Fantasy Woman

2. Velvet Afternoon

3. Blue Woman Passin'

4. Love Is Lonely

5. Naked Lady

6. Sister's Song

7. Moonbeam Creek

8. Believe

9. Ride the Moon

10. Bless the Children

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
THE MUSIC OF DREAMS: What have you done with the dreams you had for your life. Fantasy Woman sings: "Feel your wings! Sunshine in your hair. Fill the world with your song. Fill the place you belong. Fill the whole world with your dream!"

honey smooth vocals and rich evocative orchestration combined with thoughtful lyrics make this music timeless.

Fantasy Woman,Jo Nelsen,Jo Nelsen,Beautiful, intimate poetic music -- about the dreams,disappointments and hopes we have for our lives. For tender hearts.

Fantasy Woman

Tracks:

Valse Sentimentale - Clara Rockmore
Oraison - Ens D'Ondes De Montreal
Etude Aux Chemins De Fer - Pierre Schaeffer
Williams Mix - John Cage
Klangstudie II - Herbert Eimert/Robert Beyer
Low Speed - Otto Luening
Dripsody - Hugh Le Caine
Forbidden Planet: Main Title - Louis Barron/Bebe Barron
Elektronische Tanzste: Concertando Rubato - Oskar Sala
Poem Electronique - Edgard Varese
Sine Music (A Swarm Of Butterflies Encountered Over The Ocean) - Richard Maxfield
Apocalypse-Part 2 - Tod Dockstader
Kontakte - James Tenney/William Winant
Wireless Fant - Vladimir Ussachevsky
Philomel - Milton Babbitt
Spacecraft - MEV

Tracks:

Cindy Electronium - Raymond Scott
Pendulum Music - Sonic Youth
Bye Bye Butterfly - Pauline Oliveros
Projection Esemplastic For White Noise - Joji Yuasa
Silver Apples Of The Moon, Part 1 - Morton Subotnick
Rainforest Version 1 - David Tudor
Poppy Nogood - Terry Riley
Boat-Woman-Song - Holger Czukay
Music Promenade - Luc Ferrari
Vibrations Composees: Rosace 3 - Francois Bayle
Mutations - Jean-Claude Risset
Hibiki-Hana-Ma - Iannis Xenakis
Map Of 49's Dream The Two Systems Of Eleven Sets Of Galactic Intervals: Drift Study '31/69 c.... - La Monte Young

Tracks:

He Destroyed Her Image - Charles Dodge
Six Fants On A Poem By Thomas Campion: Her Song - Paul Lansky
Appalachian Grove - Laurie Spiegel
En Phase/Hors Phase - Bernard Parmegiani
On The Other Ocean - David Behrman
Stria - John Chowning
Living Sound, Patent Pending Music For Sound-Joined Rooms Series - Maryanne Amacher
Automatic Writing - Robert Ashley
Canti Illuminati - Alvin Curran
Music On A Long Thin Wire - Alvin Lucier
Melange - Klaus Schulze
Before And After Charm (La Notte) - Jon Hassell
Unfamiliar Wind (Leeks Hills) - Brian Eno

Amazon.com

Opening with Clara Rockmore's reworking of Tchaikovsky with the theremin, and finishing with one of Brian Eno's ambient soundscapes, OHM artfully succeeds in its goal of giving a representative (as opposed to the impossible, comprehensive) overview of the first several decades of electronic music. Over 3 discs, 42 compositions, and 96 pages of notes and photos, OHM clearly illustrates the producers' and contributing writers' point that early electronic music is much of the foundation of contemporary music. Herein lies the connective tissue bridging musique concrète, 20th-century classical, electronic experimentation, and the theoretical avant-garde to psychedelia, ambient, dub, techno, electro, and synthpop and the globalization of sound. The groundbreaking uses of loops, sampling, drones, remixes, and cut-and-paste technology are put fully into context. The diversity of music included makes any sort of summation impossible, but that is also the point: electronic music is not really a genre, but an open field of endless possibility. From John Cage's famous "William's Mix" of tape snippets to Karkheinz Stockhausen's electronic orchestral compositions, from David Tudor and Holger Czukay's experiments in unrelated blendings of audio elements to David Behrman's supremely peaceful duet between computers and musicians, the aural renegades on OHM tread where none (save a few of their contemporaries) had gone before. The liner notes convey the incredible amount of hard work and experimentation it took to stitch together many of these pieces in the predigital era. Putting aside the inevitable quibbles about what's missing (much of it due to legal and/or logistical issues), a more complete collection of musical eggheads, eccentrics, and visionaries is hard to imagine. --Carl Hanni

Customer Reviews:

excellent but uncomplete.......2006-11-12

Althought most of the music here is an excellent collection of electronic music history, this 3 CDs lack of the important contribution given by the RAI phonology studios of Milan, Italy in the 50s
(which was bigger than Koln's WDR studios) with Bruno Maderna, Luciano Berio and Luigi Nono.
This is a big mistake. Milans studios were the biggest of europe and produced many important electroacoustic pieces.
If the collection aim to describe faithfully electronic music history, it should include this artists too.

To call it music may be a bit limiting. .......2006-10-24

Some of the tracks on here are "music". That is that they contain all the bits we're trained to experience as music -- melody, etc. Some are not, and the composers would be the first people to tell you that. A lot of these works are reactions to ingrained rules, so they're bound to be jarring.

A more successful way to approach such a broad and varied collection of audio experimentation is to think of it as curated sound. This isn't something to wash the dishes to, or to seduce someone to (although if you did manage to seduce someone with the recordings on this anthology, HOLD ON TO THAT PERSON, because they've got to be a keeper). These are unique sound textures that deserve a close, probably solitary listen, and I think if you're in the right frame of mind, it can be a very rewarding listen.

My main complaint is sequencing: each dicrete piece follows it's own internal logic, so there are more than a couple rough gear changes. However, since each piece is so different, and the collection is so varied, I'm not sure that you could totally escape that.

A worthwhile collection.......2006-01-11

The OHM collection contains some of those ground breaking electronic compositions that have shaped today's styles, from the early electronic instruments of Theremin and Martenot, through Pierre Schaeffer's Music Concrete tape music and the electronic music of Stockhausen and Subotnick, to the mainframe computer output of Risset and Chowning.

It is unfair to mark this collection down due to the production quality and 'musicality' of its contents, to do so would be to staggeringly miss the point of the development of electronic music through the 20th Century. What this collection shows is the ideas behind those at the cutting edge of the genre before many could even conceive of such output. That said it is hard going at points, as experimental music can be.

Highlights for me are no doubt Olivier Messiaen's 'Oraison' on CD 1, David Tudor's 'Rainforest Version 1' on CD 2 and on CD 3 David Behrman's 'On the Other Ocean' and Maryanne Amacher's 'Living sound Patent Pending'.

OhMyGodHowDreadful.......2005-08-15

Ok, this collection is supposed to be early works and, thus not expected to be very sophisticated or polished. But the OHM collection sounds like the first attempt of a spastic cat turned-loose on a Moog keyboard. When it is not boreing, this collection of random and dissonant sounds (I can't call it music) is without any redeeming qualities to make it worth while. Don't get me wrong, I am a long-time fan of Wendy (nie Walter) Carlos and some other real pioneers of electronic music. However, I find that the Ohm collection has no similar qualities and is a major disappointment.

Kid Stockhausen.......2003-01-17

This is required listening for anybody interested in the history of electronic music. Although implicitly aiming for the techno music audience, this audio history is overwhelmingly focused on the classical avant-garde of electro-acoustic composers. The closest you'll get to pop electronica is the Brian Eno track at the end of the third disc. No Kraftwerk, no Moroder, etc. Instead "OHM" manages to point to the continuities between, say, John Cage and artists currently working at the experimental edges of electronica (so-called IDM). It seems to be saying, "You think Kid 606 is visionary? Well check out this Stockhausen track from '59!"

Admittedly, some of the songs are much more interesting to think about than they are to listen to. Some of the early pieces that were made through thosuands of hours of pains-taking tape-splicing could be made today in an afternoon with a digital audio editor and a few effects plug-ins.

It is a beautiful package, containing a 90 page booklet of essays, quotations from the featured artists, and photographs. What all music should be: an education in daring.

Strauss: Ein Heldenleben; Die Frau ohne Schatten-Fantasie
Average customer rating:

A good performance graced by a five-star recording

Thrilling, Somewhat Heavy-Handed Heldenleben Plus A Superb Rendition Of "Die Frau ohne Schatten" Fantasy

Compact Die Frau

Love Strauss, Love Thielemann!

Splendor from the best living Strauss conductor

Strauss: Ein Heldenleben; Die Frau ohne Schatten-Fantasie

Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Strauss - Eine Alpensinfonie ~ Rosenkavalier Suite / Wiener Phil., Thielemann

Bruckner: Symphony No. 5

German Overtures

ASIN: B00008O8B2
Release Date: 2003-09-09

Tracks:

Symphonic Fantasy From 'Die Frau Ohne Schatten
The Hero
The Hero's Adversaries
The Hero's Companion
The Hero's Battlefield
The Hero's Works Of Peace
The Hero's Retreat From The World And Fulfillment

Customer Reviews:

A good performance graced by a five-star recording.......2007-01-18

What makes this account of Ein Heldenleben memorable is the engineering--we are set dead in the middle of the Vienna Phil, and hear the orchestra exactly as the conductor does. Some critics object to this up=close perspective, and it's true that solo violin, piccolo, or an entire brass section leap forward as needed. But it's exciting, and Thielemann brings out every detail. He's short on inpsiration; this is essentially a straight-faced reading without poetry or charm, but Strauss wrote so much detail into the score that even a no-nonsense approach yields sumptuous results; all the more with today's Vienna Phil, an ensemble of astonishing virtuosity, here displayed in full.

Musically, I'm more enthusiastic about the filler, Strauss's own symphonic synthesis form Die Frau ohne Schatten. On Reference Records you can hear a stupendously recorded suite taken from the opera's orchestral interludes (Oue, Minnesota Orch.), not all of which were used by the composer for this work. Die Frau isn't enitrely memorable melodically but is the epitome of Strauss's orchestral mastery, and having heard Thielemann conduct it at the Met, I know he can hold its many layers and textures together. He does so here, and once again the Vienna Phil. is beyond compare in its execution. Five stars without hesitation for this part of the program.

Thrilling, Somewhat Heavy-Handed Heldenleben Plus A Superb Rendition Of "Die Frau ohne Schatten" Fantasy.......2006-09-23

I look forward to new recordings by Christian Thielemann, he is one of the most inspired modern day conductors of Late-Romantic, Austro-German repertoire. He's already recorded two Wagner operas! ( Tristan und Isolde and Parsifal ). Deutsche Grammophon clearly sees a winning talent on their team. Thielemann has also recorded several orchestral works of Richard Strauss. First came some early opera excerpts, then came a fine account of the Alpine Symphony coupled with the suite from Der Rosenkavalier and here we have his most recent foray into the Strauss works with this massive Ein Heldenleben and the 22 minute symphonic fantasy from Die Frau Ohne Schatten.

Right away from the opening of Hero's Life, you know you've got a true individual spirit on the podium leading the magnificient body of the Vienna Philharmonic. They sound grand and extravagant, Thielemann asks for plenty of weight from the basses up through to the soaring violins. There is a great depth of sound and people who generally prefer leaner readings, like Fritz Reiner's famous account on RCA, will initially be skeptical of Thielemann's go for the grandeur approach. The opening Hero section is majestic if a bit over-weighted, perhaps somewhat more impetus would have helped. The section with the critics goes by just fine and in the famous section with the Hero's Beloved we hear that Thielemann isn't here to dawdle or overplay anything. He moves things very nicely, just like Karajan did on his famous Heldenleben recordings. Remember that this whole violin portrayal of the wife can get rather tedious in the wrong conductor's hands, especially if their tempo is too slow. Thielemann succeeds by playing this section quite well, the strings in the second part are great and everything sounds like it's in it's natural tempo. Thielemann clearly knows what he's doing in the famous Battle Scene, there is power aplenty as well as sensuousness and inner detail. Ultimately he can't top or approach the madness, go for broke quality that Herbert von Karajan made you experience in the Battle Scene. I think Simon Rattle's recent EMI version is also slightly ahead of Thielemann in this part but certainly Christian is better than most of his competitors.

The later section with the Hero's Works of Peace and his Retirement from the World and Fulfillment are lovely, Thielemann focuses on the lovely melodies and some listeners who like to have things move more quickly might not like it but I thought it was very beautiful. All in all I would say that this Heldenleben is a winner, a truly muscular, if perhaps at times over-weighted, somewhat bloated account. The sound is great, detailed but with plenty of warmth and a lush, terrific perspective.

The Die Frau Fantasy is a must listen too. It's 22 minutes of music, most of the famous melodies from the opera are laced together to create this symphonic synthesis. The ravishing orchestral interludes of Act 2 in the opera don't find their way into this 22 minute synthesis, so you'll have to listen to a complete opera recording to hear them as well as all the gorgeous music of this work in full. I recommend Georg Solti's complete Die Frau Ohne Schatten on Decca as a reference recording for this majestic opera, one of Richard Strauss' finest achievements.

However, listening to this entire opera is a long haul indeed, so it is wonderful that Thielemann chose to record this Die Frau Fantasy to give people an exquisite taste of this seductive work. His performance is practically ideal, he brings the same qualities of the Heldenleben account to bear on this score. The warm, lush sound coupled with the great outbursts of orchestral power, it's fantastic. In making orchestal suites of operas, it's tough to put the material together in a cogent way, I think Strauss does fine but you'll really want to hear the opera itself after this. The climax of the work on this recording is strikingly powerful but in the opera it can get just overwhelming, what with the chorus and soloists singing their hearts out, it's amazing!

Anyway, look into the complete opera, this Thielemann recording is but a taste, cat-nip for all you lovers of Late-Romantic musical excess! A fine recording of both pieces under Christian Thilemann, even though his Heldenleben does not in anyway eclipse Herbert von Karajan's many versions, ( especially Karajan's great EMI recording from 1974 ), Thielemann does just fine when compared to his recent competitors in this music like Simon Rattle, whose Heldenleben on EMI I have also reviewed. Four stars for Thielemann, four stars for Rattle, always five stars for Karajan!

Compact Die Frau.......2006-03-17

This is an excellent way to hear Strauss' thematic ideas for Die Frau ohne Schatten without listening to the entire opera. The Symphonic Fantasie is a beautifully crafted stand alone orchestra piece. This recording is wonderfully performed and keeps one's interest from beginning to end.

Love Strauss, Love Thielemann!.......2006-03-11

This is one wondrous recording on every level. Christian Thielemann is becoming one our more important Straussian conductors: he has a particular affinity for the drama and majesty of Strauss' sometimes over-the-top writing. The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra responds to Thielemann with not only obvious respect but also with all out, full throttle brilliance of playing.

A welcome addition to the recorded repertoire is Thielemann's choice of including 'Die Frau ohne Schatten' symphonic fantasy on this CD (this was recorded in the studio as opposed to the Ein Heldenleben which was recorded live). The 'Fantasy' of excerpts may not be the wisest synthesis Strauss made of his own music, but just to have the pleasure of hearing the gorgeous orchestral portions of that great opera without the voices is a treat.

But on to the primary reason for applause: 'Ein Heldenleben' here receives one of the most satisfyingly fresh and well-conceived performances on record. The various 'movement/sections' remain suitably depictive, but it is the overall vision of this score that makes Thielemann's grasp so sound. This is Strauss played with all the voluptuousness and elegant line and sonorous melody that is inherent in this score so often overblown in the hands of lesser conductors. The engineering is of the highest quality resulting in a sound that must be heard to be believed. This is truly a magnificent recording. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, March 06

Splendor from the best living Strauss conductor.......2004-04-24

Vienna and Thielemann - it works like a charm! Be it Tristan & Isolde or their piece by piece Strauss collection: Thielemann is most at home in this musical vernacular, and the VPO (= WPh) is one of the best orchestras to do it with... together with the Munich Philharmonic.

The latter Orchestra happens to have been the one where I heard Thielemann conduct this live. I didn't even notice it was Thielemann (I had just 'stopped by' the concert house, not looking at the program), I was so enthralled with the music. Similar things can be achieved with this record -- but only when listened to at extreme volumes OR on headphones. The sweeping nature will be - despite it being the best sonic quality record of Ein Heldenleben on the market - lost on your average boombox. It would be such a waste. Even the cheapest headphones quadruple the enjoyment.

Tracks:

Sicilienne And Rigaudon - Mischa Elman/Percy Kahn
Nocturne in G, Op.37 No.2 - Vladimir de Pachmann
Ste No.1 in D, Op.43 - IV: March Miniature - Boston SO/Karl Muck
Vn Con in D, Op.35 - II: Canzonetta - Fritz Kreisler/Carl Lamson
Litanei, D.343 - Alfred Cortot
Gotterdammerung - Closing Scene - Leopold Stokowski
Ste, Op.15 - Valse - Harold Bauer/Ossip Gabrilowitsch
Mazurka in D, Op.33 No.2 - Ignace Jan Paderewski
Vn Partita No.3 in E, BWV 1006 - I: Prld - Sergei Rachmaninoff
Etude in a, Op.25 No.11 'Winter Wind' - Josef Lhevinne
Jalousie - Tango Tzigane - Boston Pops Orch/Arthur Fiedler
Vc Con No.2 in e, Op.30 - II: Lento - Andante Tranquillo (Abridged) - Emanuel Feuermann/Albert Hirsh
Schon Rosmarin - William Primrose/David Stimer
Ser in C, Op.48 - II: Waltz - Boston SO/Serge Koussevitzky
Beatrice Et Benedict - Ov - Boston SO/Charles Munch
Messiah, Pt.II, No.44 - Hallelujah Chor - Hugh Porter/Robert Shaw Chorale/Robert Shaw
Carnival Of The Animals: The Swan - Gregor Piatigorsky/Ralph Berkowitz
Don Pasquale - Ov - NBC SO/Arturo Toscanini
Mazurka In a, Op.7 No.2 - William Kapell
Cancion De Cuna (Cradle Song) - Jose Iturbi

Tracks:

Prld in c#, Op.45 - Arthur Rubinstein
Fant On Themes From Bizet's Carmen - Vladimir Horowitz
Fant in c, BWV 906 - Wanda Landowska
Coppelia - Prld: Mazurka - Boston SO/Pierre Monteux
Colas Breugnon, Op.24: Ov - Chicago SO/Fritz Reiner
Porgy And Bess - Jascha Heifetz
A Woman Is A Sometime Thing - Jascha Heifetz
Five Bagatelles - No.1: Allegro - Julian Bream
I Vespri Siciliani-Ballet: The Four Seasons: Winter - New Philharmonia Orch/James Levine
L'Isle Joyeuse - Van Cliburn
La Flute De Pan: Pan And The Birds - James Galway
Rosamunde, D.797 - Ballet Music No.II - Cologne RSO/Gunter Wand
Fantasiestuck, Op.73 No.3 - Rasch Und Mit Feuer - Richard Stoltzman
Light In Darkness - Evelyn Glennie
Fanfare For The Uncommon Woman, No.1 - Saint Louis SO/Leonard Slatkin
Transcendental Etude No.5 'Feux Follets' - Evgeny Kissin
A Hymn To New England - Boston Pops Orch/Keith Lockhart
Fanfare For The Common Man - San Francisco Sym/Michael Tilson Thomas

Average customer rating:

My Figure Skating Album

Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon
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Binding: Audio CD

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Erich Kunzel - Andrew Lloyd Webber (Phantom of the Opera, Cats, Evita, Sunset Boulevard, Jesus Christ Superstar, Starlight Express, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat) / Cincinnati Pops Orchestra

ASIN: B000174LCK
Release Date: 2004-02-10

Tracks:

Intermezzo Sinfonica - Wolfgang Meyer
Bolero (Excerpt) - Seiji Ozawa
The Flight Of The Bumblebee - Vladimir Ashkenazy
Summertime A Woman Is A Sometime Thing - Gil Shaham
Introduction - Variations I-VI - Tamas Vasary
Variation XVIII - Tamas Vasary
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Final - Myung-Whun Chung
'Moonlight': 1. Adagio Sostenuto - Emil Gilels
Prelude To Act I - Placido Domingo
No. 4 Havanaise: 'L'amour Est Un Oiseau Rebelle' - Placido Domingo
Act III, Entr'acte - Placido Domingo
Act III, no. 26 Duo Final (Excerpt) 'Ainsi, Le Salut De Mon Ame' - Placido Domingo
The Journey - Elliot Goldenthal & Band
Libertango - Luis Bacalov
Tango Espagnol - Nicanor Zabaleta
2. Adagio - Orpheus Chamber Orchestra

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Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi: O Fortuna - Arnold Schoenberg Chor
Uf Dem Anger: Tanz - Andre Previn
If I Were A Rich Man - Roby Lakatos And His Ensemble
7. Aqarium - Martha Argerich
13. Le Cygne - Mischa Maisky
'Un Bel Di Vedremo Levarsi Un Fil Di Fumo' - Mirella Freni
The Typewriter - Frederick Fennell
Rhapsody In Blue (Excerpt) - James Levine
An American In Paris (Excerpt) - James Levine
Salut D'amour - Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
'Mon Coeur S'ouvre A Ta Voix' - Grace Bumbry
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Venus, The Bringer Of Peace - William Steinberg
Danse Macabre, Op. 40 - Luben Yordanoff

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Strauss: Symphonic Music From Operas / Berlin Philharmonic / Mehta (Sony)

Average customer rating:

Mehta comes off better the less you know
One of Mehta's better enterprises from his New York years
The Klimt cover was the best thing; the music second...

Strauss: Symphonic Music From Operas / Berlin Philharmonic / Mehta (Sony)

Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Waltzes | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
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Respighi: Pines of Rome; Fountains of Rome; Metamorphoseon Modi XII

ASIN: B0000027IX
Release Date: 1993-03-23

Tracks:

Symphonic Music From Operas: Waltz Sequence From 'The Knight Of The Rose'
Symphonic Fragment From 'The Love Of Dance': Molto vivace
Symphonic Fragment From 'The Love Of Dance': Piu tranquillo
Symphonic Interludes: I. Reisefiber und Walzerszene
Symphonic Interludes: II. Traumerei am Kamin
Symphonic Interludes: III. Am Speiltisch
Symphonic Interludes: IV. Frohlicher Beschluss
Symphonic Music From Operas: Symphonic Fantasia From 'The Woman Without A Shadow'

Customer Reviews:

Mehta comes off better the less you know.......2005-10-07

These are lush excerpts from Strauss operas played to the hilt by the Berlin Phil. In the music that everybody knows, the Rosenkavalier waltzes, Mehta is not competitive--his readings are big, generalized, without wit or special interest. But who really knows the music from Der Liebe der Danae or Intermezzo? It's garrulous and unispired compared to Strauss's best, but a nice plunge if you like warm chocolate. The recording isnt the best. Horns are far away, strings very up close, winds buried in a bit of a haze. I think I like Mehta in this musci mostly because I've never heard anybody better--and don't need to.

One of Mehta's better enterprises from his New York years.......2005-08-24

Zubin Mehta the conductor has always reminded me of pro athletes that perform at their greatest when young, hungry and not making much money. Then, when they get that first big contract, they are suddenly mediocre, their drive reduced by instant wealth.

This is the metaphor I have for Mehta, whose outstanding youthful recordings of Mahler's "Resurrection" Symphony, Strauss's "Also Sprach Zarathustra" and "Eine Alpinesymphonie", the Tchaikovsky Symphonies 4 and 5, and Schmidt's Symphony No. 4 were never replicated after he made it to New York and began churning out mediocrity after mediocrity on CD.

While not the final word in Strauss bleeding chunks, this recording is, I believe, one of Mehta's better enterprises from his New York period. The orchestral excerpts from Richard Strauss's operas are all performed with relaxed elan, style and substance and comprise an entertaining hour of music.

No particular work stands out among the entities, which include music from "Rosenkavalier", "The Love of Danae", "Intermezzo" and the symphonic fantasy from "Die Frau ohne Schatten". There are better individual performances of each of these suites but few CDs put them together and perform them as well as here.

The 20-bit technology creates a nice sound circa 1990 that exposes the Berlin Philharmonic's texture. This is not the same orchestra that Karajan had sharpened to a razor's edge when he died a year earlier, but a more generic good that still wears well.

Nothing in this music suggests the profundity of Zarathustra and none of it scales the heights of Alpine. Still, it is enjoyable while reliably played and performed. I enjoy the occasional spin of this disc when I look for less than revelatory or profound Strauss, and I think you will too.

The Klimt cover was the best thing; the music second..........2003-08-30

It is interesting that the Berlin Philharmonic should undertake to record the "Die Frau" Symphonic Fantasy with Mehta. The Fantasy was arranged by Strauss to help address the financial crunch he faced after the WWII defeat of Germany. Ironically enough, the Berlin Philharmonikers had been Karajan-less (due to Tod:) for about a year when they recorded this piece with Mehta. This CD proves that the BPO could reach great intepretive heights in Richard Strauss's music only under the direction of Karajan. However competent he is in other repertoire, Mehta is not a natural Straussian. The Rosenkavalier and Intermezzo extracts are well-played but lack the genial charm and warmth of other rival versions. The BPO sounds oddly mechanical and forced under such leadership!

The two brief fragments from "The Love of Danae" are the best bits of this CD - played with golden tone, (and very possibly the best too because I do not have another recording to make comparisons with!).

Strauss's music when poorly directed can sound like an amateur high-school brass band gone astray. And that is what happens in the "Die Frau" Fantasy. Towards the big climaxes, the brass go off the reins, becoming uncontrollably loud and splashy. You just need to hear the same passages played by Solti and the Vienna PO in the complete opera recording to realize how much more musical these passages can sound when played with great discipline.

Tracks:

An Alpine Symphony Op. 64: Night
An Alpine Symphony Op. 64: Sunrise
An Alpine Symphony Op. 64: The Ascent
An Alpine Symphony Op. 64: Entering The Forest, Wandering By The Brook
An Alpine Symphony Op. 64: By The Waterfall
An Alpine Symphony Op. 64: Apparition
An Alpine Symphony Op. 64: Flowery Meadows
An Alpine Symphony Op. 64: In The Mountain Pasture
An Alpine Symphony Op. 64: On The Wrong Path Through Thickets And Undergrowth
An Alpine Symphony Op. 64: On The Glacier
An Alpine Symphony Op. 64: Precarious Moments
An Alpine Symphony Op. 64: On The Summit
An Alpine Symphony Op. 64: Vision
An Alpine Symphony Op. 64: Rising Mists
An Alpine Symphony Op. 64: The Sun Gradually Dims
An Alpine Symphony Op. 64: Elegy
An Alpine Symphony Op. 64: Calm Before The Storm
An Alpine Symphony Op. 64: Thunderstorm, Descent
An Alpine Symphony Op. 64: Sunset
An Alpine Symphony Op. 64: Epilogue
An Alpine Symphony Op. 64: Night
Die Frau ohne Schatten: Symphonic Fantasy From The Opera

Customer Reviews:

Compare Chicago to L.A. ?!?.......2006-08-21

The L.A. Philharmonic's brass section sounds terrible in their recording. Granted, the interpretation is superior to that of Barenboim's, but I don't like any of Barenboim's Strauss recordings. The L.A. horns are abysmal. They are seldom in tune and have a very whiney tone. Chicago's recording is alright except for Barenboim's extremely slow interpretation. Comparing the CSO's brass section to that of the L.A. Philharmonic is just ridiculous. We all know that the L.A. brass are shaky at best.

Dismantled and Shadowless Woman.......2005-03-12

Of course,this recording isn't to all.However,I warn you to ignore nonsensical criticisms;I heard the customary CSO's grandeur just because these musicians are exponents on their instruments,ever.If there are a deceit here,this is Barenboim's performance to Die Frau Fantasy.That very sluggish Barak solo(trombone solo)is just to express sorrow.In fact,Barenboim takes too much permission himself to show originality but all that is sham;only insipid performance occurs and the final tutti is just grotesque.Much better is Alpine Symphony."On the Summit" and "Thunderstorm" both confirm CSO's authority.Of course,this music doesn't propose any puzzle to the conductor and this fine orchestra.

Another misfire.......2003-08-25

Richard Strauss is territory Barenboim should have stayed away from. When we already have astoundingly marvellous versions of Alpine Symphony available elsewhere - Karajan with the virtuosic Berlin Philharmonic, Kempe and the inspired dedicatees of the work itself, the incandescent Dresden Staatskapelle, and Blomstedt's stupendous San Francisco recording - Barenboim and the sadly unrecognizable CSO are roundly outclassed in this repertoire. One is amazed that this is the same orchestra who worked musical miracles under Reiner and Solti. The playing throughout is bland, limp and uninspired, and the recording is amazing --- muffled, distant and murky.

Very, Very, Very Disappointing.......2002-12-08

To put plainly, this brass section VERY old (age-wise) and do not have chops that they did 20, 30, or 40 years ago. Their old lips just can't do it. It's painful to hear Adolph Herseth try and play this insane trumpet part at 70 years old. He just doesn't have it anymore. And he's not the only one. Jay Friedman is starting to decay and sounds really bad in all places: not just the loud parts. Same with Herseth. He uses this nasty vibrato to try cover up his bad tone. The only good part of this recording it Charles Vernon, but Barenboim holds him back. When I first saw this recording, I wanted to get it, too. I said, "Hey! The greatest brass section ever playing the Alpine Symphony!" Unfortunately, I was sorely disappointed, and you will to if you buy this. I have an LA Phil recording, but I'm not sure when it was recorded or who conducted it, but it is flat out amazing. They can handle this monster. Unfortunately, Chicago can't.

Average customer rating:

Penthesilea

Manufacturer: Berlin Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0000035RJ
Release Date: 1995-06-20

Tracks:

Penthesilea, Sym Poem: Departure Of The Amazons For Troy - Staatskapelle Berlin/Otmar Suitner
Penthesilea, Sym Poem: Penthesilea's Dream Of The Feast Of Roses - Staatskapelle Berlin/Otmar Suitner
Penthesilea, Sym Poem: Fights, Passions, Madness, Extinction - Staatskapelle Berlin/Otmar Suitner
Incidental Music To Kleist's 'Kathchen Von Heilbronn' Op.17: Prld To Act III - Juliane Koren/Frank Lienert
Incidental Music To Kleist's 'Kathchen Von Heilbronn' Op.17: Melodram - Juliane Koren/Frank Lienert
Incidental Music To Kleist's 'Kathchen Von Heilbronn' Op.17: Ov - Juliane Koren/Frank Lienert
Fant, Op.65 - Staatskapelle Berlin/Otmar Suitner

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