Strauss, J, II: Annen-Polka, Op. 117

Performing the marvellous Les Plus Belles coupled with Valses de Vienne, the Orchestre de l’Opera de Vienne rise to the challenge wonderfully.

Back to the good old days and to familiar waltzes and polkas presented with the chamber refinement of a string quartet and a double bass instead of with the all-too-familiar glossy finish and polish of New Year’s concerts!

The violinist Thomas Christian and his soloists take us back with fine art and inimitable Viennese spirit to the grand days of the Habsburg monarchy: Wien bleibt Wien.

The Strauss family was one of music’s greatest dynasties. In this glittering disc, we hear such classics as the Radetzky March of Johann Strauss I, and his son, Johann Strauss II’s overture to Der Zigeunerbaron (The Gypsy Baron), one of the enduring masterpieces of the Viennese concert repertoire. The irresistibly exciting Unter Donner und Blitz (Thunder and Lightning) offers thunderous delight, whilst An der schönen blauen Donau (On the Beautiful Blue Danube) is one of the most unforgettable melodies ever written. Strauss the Elder’s second son, Josef, was an outstanding composer in his own right, as demonstrated by the frenzy of excitement that is the Jokey-Polka (Jockey-Polka).

The works by Johann Strauss II have been performed following the New Complete Edition Johann Strauss (Strauss Edition Wien)

Herbert von Karajan was a master of the Strauss style. Here for the first time are all three of his Strauss recordings from the early 1980s – beautifully conceived programmes of waltzes, polkas and marches, including all the favourites – compiled together in a generous 2-CD set.

The ensemble-playing of the 22 musicians is characterized by an irreproachable intonation and rhythmical precision, but primarily by their wide range in dynamics, articulation and expressiveness (the pianissimo-nuances of the ensemble are breath-taking!). With his great knowledge about instruments, the band-leader, professor Yamamoto, is an outstanding arranger and knows precisely how to utilize the capacities of his band-members. Therefore, it has been possible for the ensemble to enter into and incorporate genres and styles beyond the conventional brass-band repertoire. “Tailor-made” arrangements of symphonic music by Mahler, organ-music by Brahms, and a choir-piece by Bruckner sound surprisingly idiomatic and, for a while, make the listener forget about authenticity and the original instrumentations! Even prof. Yamamoto’s own entertaining rhapsody of Japanese childrens’ tunes as well as such well-known lighter genres that used to be played in transcriptions for brass-bands, like Strauss waltzes and polkas, are performed by Pegasus, with a sort of symphonic feeling, in a refined and enriched manner.

These recordings date from the fifties and this CD is part of the Archipel Desert Island Collection. The Trapp is a world premiere recording.

Viennese Night was a staple feature of Hallé programmes during Sir John Barbirolli’s era, not only at Belle Vue and in the Free Trade Hall but in many of the other towns and cities where the orchestra played and particularly, of course, at the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts in the Royal Albert Hall. There, especially during the 1960s, it rivalled the Last Night as a relaxed and enjoyable occasion, with JB presiding over the audience’s revels in a benevolently avuncular manner. If they were going to sway to the waltzes, they had to do it in time with the music; and if they were going to stamp their feet during some of the polkas, that too had to be done in tempo and accurately. The performances on this disc eloquently illustrate Barbirolli’s way with the music of the Strausses and others such as Lehár who comprise what we call the Golden Age of Vienna, although not all were Vienna-born but became adopted sons of the city. This English conductor of Italo-French parentage could be almost more Viennese than the Viennese. He had the secret of just how much rubato the waltzes could take without tipping over into sentimentality. He also acknowledges their rhythmic vitality and the brilliance of the scoring, not just for strings but for solo piccolo, oboe and percussion. What made his conducting of these Viennese bon-bons so satisfying was that he recognised that they were not just bon-bons but in several cases masterpieces of their genre.