{"product_id":"mengelberg-r-strauss-ein-heldenleben-1928-pasc104","title":"MENGELBERG R. Strauss: Ein Heldenleben (1928) - PASC104","description":"overviewfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eR STRAUSS \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eEin Heldenleben\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003eRecorded Carnegie Hall, New York, 11-13 December, 1928 \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003e Transfer and XR remastering by Andrew Rose, November 2007\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003e Duration 40:59\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp align=\"left\" class=\"footer\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003ePhilharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003econducted by \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eWillem Mengelberg \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9review_titlefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fFanfare Review578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9review_quotefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fSimply gorgeous sound quality; every section was equal in timbre, weight, and color578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9review_bodyfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cp class=\"B\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003eThis surprising dual issue of both of Mengelberg’s recordings of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMESi\"\u003eEin Heldenleben\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003e,\nand both in superbly reengineered sound, gives one a rare opportunity\nto compare and contrast them. I owned the New York Philharmonic-Symphony\nOrchestra recording on an RCA Victrola LP from the early 1970s and,\nthough I liked it, I was not altogether convinced of its legendary\nstatus. In 1986 I bought the Concertgebouw Orchestra version on an old\nTelarc CD and, though it had your typically harsh, congested radio sound\nand lots of acetate crackle, I found the performance much more intense,\ncohesive, and emotional—even in the soft passages. \u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"B\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003eComparing them now, one notices immediate\ndifferences. The New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of that era\n(1928) had a simply gorgeous sound quality; every section was equal in\ntimbre, weight, and color, and each section had superb first-chair\nplayers (Mishel Piastro was concertmaster, Bruno Janicke the first horn,\nand both get their fair share of solo passages here). The Concertgebouw\nOrchestra (in 1941), on the other hand, was a much more uneven band.\nDue to either Mengelberg’s preferences or his reluctance to replace\ninferior players, the violins sounded harsher, the woodwinds edgier. Yet\nto my ears, it is the Concertgebouw performance that scores more points\nin the overall presentation of the music, and which in the final\nanalysis gives us a much more “legendary” performance. \u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"B\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003eFor example, the strings in the first half of “Der\nHeld” are far more beautiful in the New York version, but about halfway\nthrough the orchestra sounds a bit sluggish rhythmically while the\nConcertgebouw version maintains a forward pulse. In the beginning of\n“Des Helden Widersacher,” the winds of the CO are much livelier, more\nincisive than the NY P-SO. “Des Helden Gefährtin” is supposedly five\nseconds longer in the CO version than the NY P-SO, but it doesn’t sound\nit. Both solo violinists (I believe it is Piastro on the NY P-SO\nrecording) use portamento that is no longer heard in the music but,\noverall, there is much \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMESi\"\u003emore \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003eportamento\nthroughout the NY P-SO recording, and it becomes annoying after a\nwhile. The one section in which the NY P-SO is markedly superior to the\nCO is in “Des Helsen Walstatt” (The Hero’s Battlefield), where the more\nsolid sound of the NY P-SO , combined with a slightly brisker tempo\n(8:18 compared to 8: 39), creates slightly more tension, but the CO\nperformance is certainly not \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMESi\"\u003elacking \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003etension. \u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"Br\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003eOf course, your proclivity to buy one performance\nrather than another will depend on your familiarity with both of them.\nExcept for the extra portamento in the 1928 recording and the extra\nclarity in the 1941, there’s not really a tremendous amount of\ndifference in overall musical concept, certainly not as widely varied\nas, say, certain earlier and later performances by Toscanini or\nFurtwängler. Yet if you like Mengelberg and believe that this was one\nscore that he “owned,” you may certainly want to get both. The sound\nrestoration was, to my ears, even more striking in the 1941 broadcast\nthan the 1928 studio version. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"Br\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMESb\"\u003eLynn René Bayley \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis article originally appeared in Issue 31:5 (May\/June 2008) of Fanfare Magazine.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9main_samplefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fsamples\/PASC104.mp3578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_labelfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fProducer's Note578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_typefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcontent578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_contentfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNotes on the restoration\u003c\/strong\u003e: Mengelberg's first recording of Strauss's Ein Heldenleben, though not quite up to the recording quality of his 1941 Concertgebouw recording, is generally considered the finer performance of the two. Despite its vintage, it has proved remarkably receptive to the XR remastering technique and is now a pleasure to listen to. Both recordings are essential to any understanding of this piece.\u003c\/p\u003e578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_cover_thumbnail1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_cover_thumbnail2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_cover_download_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample3_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample4_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample5_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample6_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_labelfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fCover Art578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_typefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcover_art578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_contentfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_cover_thumbnail1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcovers\/thumbs\/PASC104.jpg578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_cover_thumbnail2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_cover_download_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcovers\/PASC104.pdf578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample3_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample4_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample5_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample6_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f","brand":"Pristine Classical","offers":[{"title":"Ambient Stereo 16-bit FLAC","offer_id":55010060763502,"sku":"rjk1789305727273","price":8.29,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Mono 16-bit FLAC","offer_id":55010060796270,"sku":"ufe1789305727274","price":9.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"320kbps Ambient Stereo MP3","offer_id":55010060829038,"sku":"odg1789305727275","price":6.26,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0915\/3986\/5966\/files\/mengelberg-r-strauss-ein-heldenleben-1928---pasc104_1.jpg?v=1789305734","url":"https:\/\/www.harborviewgoods.shop\/products\/mengelberg-r-strauss-ein-heldenleben-1928-pasc104","provider":"My Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}