Strauss Symphony in F minor

[Alan Howe]

I'd like to commend to your attention the new recording of Strauss' Symphony in F minor on Oehms featuring the superb (if inelegantly named) Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra under Sebastian Weigle (who is a dab hand in this repertoire).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankfurter_Opern-_und_Museumsorchester

The performance of the symphony is quite the strongest I've heard of this, the second of Strauss' two early symphonies. It's often described as backward-looking (in comparison to Don Juan which also features on this CD), but quite honestly it sounds magnificently of its time (1883) here. It also makes for some fascinating comparisons with two roughly contemporary symphonies - those by d'Albert (in F - 1886) and Georg Schumann (B minor - 1887).

A winner of a CD! Audio samples here:
https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/don-juan-symphonie-f-moll-op-12/hnum/8325962

[adriano]

Nice to hear this. The 1994 CD with Hiroshi Wakasugi conducting the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony is quite a nice version too :-)

[MartinH]

Here's another work whose absence from concert halls (and recordings) has never made sense. It could sure use a new, strong performance. But really, another Don Juan? The competition here is just overwhelming. Wish they had coupled it with another Strauss rarity, like Macbeth. Nonetheless, I'll pick this up. My old Records International version with Halasz needs company.

[eschiss1]

or the Pan-Athens Procession, or (less rare, but this would really interest me) the German Motets...

[Ilja]

Good news, even if I never thought Järvi's recording left much to be desired. For those searching for instant gratification, it is also downloadable via the iTunes store.

[Alan Howe]

Järvi's is a fine performance - leaner, as one might expect. Weigle is weightier.

[Mark Thomas]

Weigle's is indeed an impressive performance. If one didn't know the composer's name, one would never guess that this grand work was  juvenilia. To be able to write such music at 21! That said, I marginally prefer the even earlier D minor Symphony because it has freshness and vigour which is not so much to the fore in this more sober piece.

[hyperdanny]

cpo is issuing a new recording of the F minor

https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/cpo/detail/-/art/richard-strauss-symphonie-f-moll-op-12/hnum/8992789

[eschiss1]

For some reason I thought they'd done so already, but it seems their contribution to Strauss' output has been mainly recordings of his lesser-known operas (not a bad thing). The above thread does mention more recordings of the F minor symphony than I'd remembered existed, though...

[hyperdanny]

I will give this a pass because the Jarvi is just perfect to me: the interpretation always was great, and the remastered mid-price reissue fixes the too recessed and somewhat fuzzy early Chandos vintage sound.  I A/B'd them , and I threw away the old cd.
What I would really like is a new recording of the D minor, because neither of the 2 releases I have totally satisfies me.
One (Rickenbacher) is gorgeously played and recorded, but I find it indifferently conducted, workmanlike.
The other (Seibel) is stupendously shaped by an understanding conductor, and very well played, but let down by the almost insufferable (to these ears) Colosseum sound, boxy and harsh at the same time, quite a feat.

[Alan Howe]

How about Klauspeter Seibel on Colosseum?>>>
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00004TC7D/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_6?smid=AZDZIBH5X2SOL&psc=1

It's in D minor, by the way.

[hyperdanny]

of course you're right..in a hurry , i had even mispelled the conductor's name, and , being a soundtrack listener, I also conflated Colosseum with Varese Sarabande, because in that remit they're closely connected, a lot of hiccups in a little post!..all edited.
thank you

[Alan Howe]

I've been listening again to Järvi's performance - which is much more volatile, but also occasionally too glib by half, especially when he rushes his fences. Bäumer on cpo is superficially less exciting, but he really gets the mystery of the music whereas Järvi pushes ahead, anxious to get to the next climax. With Bäumer the Symphony sounds like a much bigger statement; I think he treats it with greater respect, rather as Weigle does.

[Alan Howe]

From a customer review at jpc:

<<Dirigent Bäumer lässt sich - im Vergleich zu Järvi auf CHANDOS - dreieinhalb Minuten Mehr Zeit, besonders im ersten Satz. Das nimmt der Musik zwar etwas an Feuer, verleiht ihr andererseits aber auch mehr Gewicht, was der Musik gut bekommt.>>
https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/cpo/detail/-/art/richard-strauss-symphonie-f-moll-op-12/hnum/8992789

Translation:

<<In comparison with Järvi on Chandos, the conductor, Bäumer, allows himself an extra three and a half minutes, particularly in the first movement. This takes away something of the music's fire, but on the other hand it lends it more weight, which suits the music well.>>

I thoroughly agree.

[Ilja]

Of course, the real rarity here is the C minor overture. I hadn't heard that before, and it is enjoyable in a sort of early-careerist way.