Also sprach zarahustra

Hi guys

Friend of a friend is going tb bought a vinyl copy of this for his birthday. Could anyone suggest a good, relatively-easily-available-on-vinyl performance ??.

Thank you.

Yours ever

Paul

 

Recorded Zarathustras come in two flavours:

(1) conductors who stay faithful to the markings in Strauss's score
(2) star conductors who tinker around with note values in the score - particularly the opening fanfare - in a bid to propel what is otherwise a homely tone poem into the glam, futuristic sound vibes of space odysseys, or profound music-of-the-spheres philosophy, ad nauseum... :SLEEP:

If you are looking for (1), excluding those rare mono transfers, the stereo ones to go for would be Rudolf Kempe's EMI recording or Blomstedt's Denon recording. Both with the Dresden Staatskapelle, and both gramophone classics IMO. Dr Reiner is also good here too.

If you are ISO big thrills and spills and artistic licentiousness, i.e. (2) , Karajan's 1974 Berlin Philharmonic on DG and 1960 Vienna Philharmonic on Decca are pretty spectacular, as is Solti with Chicago SO. Besides these there are lots of alternatives to choose from, but I'd caution against any Zarathustra from Haitink, Previn, Maazel, Steinberg, Barenboim, Ozawa, or cheap Naxos. These are snorefests imho.

 

I think the classic Living Stereo Reiner/Chicago SO was recently re-issuesd on Vinyl, and should also be in many 2nd hand shops.

 

To be honest, I always thought that "Zarathustra" was completely a snorefest - apart from the "2001" bit of course.

 

FWIW I've got Solti / Chicago SO and it's pretty good. I can't help thinking that this is exactly the piece of music for which the CD was invented, but then I'm a philistine when it comes to vinyl.

 

Well, to be honest, I never thought that Bach's finger exercises for the harpsichord were snorefests. On the contrary, they are spine-tingling. In the sense that listening to them is like the experience of having several redback spiders crawl up one's spine.

 

Never tried it! Thankfully redbacks, being the shy creatures that they are, are not liable to do that. Still, the Bach keyboard stuff does appear to produce an excitement of a sort in you, whereas Herr Strauss's flabby concoction puts me to sleep (once "2001" is out of the way). Sorry, but to me it's like Tchaikovsky's first piano concerto - it simply never lives up to the promise of that magnificent opening.

 

I used to agree with Tones until I heard 2 recordings of it.... one by Guiseppe Sinopoli and the New York Phil which now seems to be nla, and the Reiner/CSO one mentioned earlier.

 

Thanks, Alan. If I find one of those, I'll give it another go (I have the vinyl of Karajan/Vienna Phil).

 

Get Cosmosis' Contact on vinyl, if you want a REALLY alternative version of this

 

Never!

 

When I first got into classical I went out of my to get a copy of this (I also have the Karajan) as it was one of the first classical pieces I knew thanks to 2001.

Sadly I subsequently think it is also one of the worst pieces I've ever heard - thankfully he puts the climax at the start so 5 mins in and you can switch off.

 

I've got several recordings of this piece at home, I'll have a listen to a few after the weekend and see. I think the best sounding is one of those red and white Decca's is it Phase 4. I'd love to hear the Mercury, that'd be the one I'd seek out. Karajan is very strong in this sort of repertory, and it's his recordings you're most likely to find I would have thought