Strauss: Death and Transfiguration. Four Last Songs

Last year when DG premiered its astonishingly successful Original Source Recordings of limited-edition vinyl reissues of acclaimed albums from the 70s (for a full behind-the-scenes report, see Mark Ward’s “Rewriting History” in Tracking Angle), many of us hoped this recording would follow soon. With over 50 recordings to suit virtually every taste and temperament, Karajan and Janowitz bring an Olympian perspective that emphasizes the sheer sonorous, sensual beauty of the songs, the vocalist taking on the character of an instrument, “personal” expressiveness minimized. Karajan’s goal of maximum smoothness, textural blend, and tonal richness has never been more persuasively essayed than here and in Death and Transfiguration, written 60 years earlier and quoted in the fourth song. Tempi are slow, but breathtakingly controlled with playing of a luminosity and radiance little short of miraculous. The original sonics mirrored the interpretive approach: a little distant, tonally thin at the bottom, with some oddities of balance and perspective. The superb OSR team of Rainer Maillard and Sidney Meyer have improved the sound quite a bit, notably in dynamic range, so do not allow my reservations to deter you. This is one of the glories of the gramophone, and still my favorite recording of both works.