Strauss: Ein Heldenleben & Burleske

Antonio Pappano

Released on 07/05/2021 by Warner Classics
Main artists: Antonio Pappano
Genre: Classical

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Antonio Pappano has never before recorded the tone poems of Richard Strauss, and he is in no way a Strauss specialist. However, that may change with this fine live recording of Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40, with the conductor's Orchestra dell'Accademia nazionale di Santa Cecilia. The Ein Heldenleben was recorded live in 2018, and the brisk concluding Burleske in D minor, with Bertrand Chamayou, is a studio recording, but there really isn't much of a lurch, and this is a testament to how much Pappano has made this orchestra and his sound his own. As for Ein Heldenleben, the performance is perhaps an opera conductor's view of the work, and this is all to the good. The program of the tone poem is as detailed as in any other Strauss ever wrote and, whatever the composer's occasional protestations to the contrary, more personal. Pappano gets the humor at many points, such as the unflattering portrayal of the Austrian critics in the second movement (they noticed, and responded in kind), and his reading of the third movement "Des Helden Gefährtin" ("The Hero's Companion"), which even Strauss admitted was a portrait of his wife, Pauline de Ahna, is lush, gentle, and yet full of surprises and fun; Pappano takes a bit of extra time here in a reading that otherwise sticks close to the norms. So it goes throughout; listeners will feel that they have been on the epic journey suggested by the title, even if that journey doesn't extend beyond the composer's studio. The Warner Classics/Parlophone sound from the Parco della Musica auditorium is quite warm and contains nothing to distract the listener.

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Strauss: Ein Heldenleben & Burleske

Antonio Pappano

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Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40: I. Der Held