Dear Friends,
The period around 1940 was really fantastic for orchestral recordings, many done in fact very well with plenty of ambience and little distortion. This recording, conducted by the composer, is of lovely exuberance and over-the-top hilarity that is almost self-mocking. It is for me a great pleasure to listen to. It was recorded in Munich in 1941 with the Bayerisches Staatsorchester. For those of you interested in these recordings in superb new transfers, I might refer you to the label Dutton Laboratories, at www.duttonlabs.demon.co.uk for more information. They do state-of-the-art remasters and cleanups, and in this case, a subtle amount of reverb was added.
I am very interested in early Richard Strauss recordings of tone poems. One that I am looking for in particular is an early Also Sprach from around 1941 with Frederick Stock and the Chicago Symphony. If anybody has information about how to locate this recording, please contact me privately. I have been searching for it for years, after having heard it on the radio and having failed to put in a cassette in time to record it…
Best,
Zsolt