Description

“The Ein Heldenleben is one of the greatest performances of that work I have ever heard, rivalling both Mengelberg and Beecham in grandeur and sweep and outdistancing both in the poignancy of the final pages.”

– Martin Bookspan in Prodigy

“…One of the most valuable ‘unofficial’ Toscanini releases to appear in some time, in part because of its inclusion of his only NBC presentation of Heldenleben, a work he did not record in the studio. …the sound…will astonish in its richness, fullness, impact, and – yes – liveness. …And what a performance: superbly controlled, remarkable in its clarity of texture and instrumental color, vibrant but never hysterical, heroic yet delicate, and avoiding the bombast that (under less sensitive direction) can infect this score. Don Juan…is a strong reading, a shade faster and a bit more flexible, perhaps, than Toscanini’s familiar studio effort, but not all that different from it. In contrast, this Till Eulenspiegel…may be Toscanini’s finest surviving account of the work. …stamped with an impish, tongue-in-cheek wit that the more serious studio version lacks…”

– Mortimer H. Frank in Fanfare

TOSCANINI CONDUCTS RICHARD STRAUSS. Ein Heldenleben (1941); Don Juan (1939); Till Eulenspiegel (1949).      UPC #0-17685-47542-9