Strauss: Ein Heldenleben / Webern: Im Sommerwind

Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Haitink, Bernard

CSO 9011002

Hot on the heels of an Editor's Choice for his Alpine Symphony, Bernard Haitink conducts the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, one of the world's greatest Strauss ensembles, in Ein Heldenleben (A Hero's Life) whose US premiere it gave in 1900. The CSO pours out a lush interpretation of Richard Strauss' large and complex tone poem in their newest live recording. Principal Conductor Bernard Haitink leads with restraint and allows the strings and woodwinds to sing. In the famous Battle Scene, the brass and percussion roar, while concertmaster Robert Chen paints his violin solos depicting Strauss' wife, Pauline, with tender beauty. Webern's early tone poem 'Im Sommerwind' is indebted to Strauss' rhapsodic romanticism and overflows with spacious melodies. A musical force in Chicago and around the world, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is consistently hailed as one of the finest international orchestras.

"Listeners looking for more swagger should try Reiner, or for bombast, Karajan. But for anyone who wants beauty, depth, respect, and even love in a performance of Strauss' Ein Heldenleben, this recording with Bernard Haitink leading the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is the one. Haitink clearly knows the piece like the back of his hand...The Chicago Symphony delivers a performance of consummate loveliness with silvery strings, characterful woodwinds, brilliant brass, and a rich blend that is all their own. Coupled with what may be the most perfectly realized performance of Webern's early tone poem Im Sommerwind ever recorded, this disc is well worth hearing by anyone who admires either composer." - All Music Guide

CD x 1

CSO

9/9/10

810449011020