A frivolous topic no doubt - but my favourites are rather obvious ones - Carlos Kleiber's sensational pair of New Year Concerts from 1989 and 1991 - VPO/Boskovsky and Barbirolli's Viennese Night recordings on Pye HMV and live on BBC Legends - nobody could conduct Gold and Silver like him .
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Hiya Barbirollians,Originally posted by Barbirollians View Post
I agree Boskovsky and Klieber are top drawer with Strauss in the New Year Concerts. For me the least suited to the annual event at the Golden Hall is Franz Welser-Möst; although he is Austrian. I also think that Manfred Honeck an Austrian too is excellent in the music of the Strauss family. I thought the great Mariss Jansons looked a bit off colour this year in the New Year Concert. It will be fasinating to see if Dudamel will liven up the proceedings next year.Last edited by Stanfordian; 28-01-16, 18:32. -
I would make the case for **Erich** Kleiber as an even greater Straussian than CarlosComment
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Sir John liked a bit of schmaltz and could rely on Martin Milner to add a bit. Loughran continued the Halle tradition well at the Proms and Bryden Thomson recorded some with the Halle.Originally posted by Barbirollians View Post
I'd add Dorati and Bohm to those mentioned by others.Comment
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Anyone remember an old HMV Concert Classics LP conducted by Henry Krips? That was pretty good although I think it was an ad hoc band with a 'recording' name.Comment
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Was he related to Joseph Krips ? Never heard of Henry .Originally posted by Roslynmuse View Post
Where can Erich K's Strauss family recordings be found . Agree about FWM - far too stiff for my liking .Comment
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Just looked him up - so he was and was the conductor of the Adelaide symphony orchestra for an age .Comment
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[FONT=Comic Sans MS][I][B]Numquam Satis![/B][/I][/FONT]Comment
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A great topic. I find that Boskovsky can be rather variable, his big EMI box is useful for completeness but not always the most lively performances. The Vanguard lollipops/bonbons etc. with a small group are really excellent as are the similar (but much more recent) Waltz Kings from Ensemble Wien.Originally posted by Barbirollians View Post
MikeComment
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Don't know when, or if, I'll ever listen to this rep again, but I loved these back in the day (acoustic vividly present - Wilkinson/Vienna) ....
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Listening to the Honeck as I type and while the performances are fair to middling it sounds like it was recorded in a cave. I have a soft spot for the 1979 New Year's Day Concert with Boskovsky, one of Decca's very first digital releases.Last edited by mahlerei; 28-01-16, 21:11.Comment
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Which was unfortunately, Boskovsky's last. Then we had a period of seven long years of Maazel which was finally broken by one of the greatest New Year's concerts of my experience, Herbert von Karajan, followed by Abbado in 1988 and the great 1989 concert with Kleiber. Boskovsky, Karajan and Kleiber, great men for this repertoire. No one has come close since then except Carlos in 1992.Originally posted by mahlerei View PostComment
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Pretre is my favourite among more recent New Year conductors. Mehta was good in 2007 but disappointing in 2015. I am most certainly with Stanners in regarding Welser-Most as a big big disappointment.Comment
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I listened to, and watched, the Boskovsky New Year concerts from 1972 and he was the very essence of Viennese gemütlichkeit and stands head and shoulders above all interpreters of this music, in my opinion. I bought his annual Decca recordings as they came out and love them still. If anyone wants to savour the exuberance of a Boskovsky New Year's concert there is a DVD available on DG. I saw Boskovsky twice, most memorably at the RFH in London when my parents took me as a 21st birthday present for a concert with the BBC Concert Orchestra on June 14 1975.
Karajan, like Boskovsky, had this music in his blood and as Slarty says, the 1987 New Year's concert was undoubtedly the finest of all. Moreover, he recorded Strauss throughout his career and in preparing for the 1987 concert Karajan went back to his VPO recordings for EMI from 1948/9 on which to model his interpretations.
By the way, Boskovsky was due to conduct a 1980 concert I attended but, alas he was ill by then and his place was taken by ... Henry Krips!
One shouldn't forget Clemens Krauss either, the first NYC conductor. Enthusiasts should check out a CD of the 1954 New Year's concert (complete with Austrian Radio announcements) which is a joy and in pretty decent sound too.
Of those since Karajan, only Carlos Kleiber has come anywhere near to achieving the magic of both Boskovsky and Karajan."The sound is the handwriting of the conductor" - Bernard HaitinkComment
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