| Review by gonzostick March 29, 2010 (7 of 11 found this review helpful)
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This recording is nothing special... The climaxes clog sonically in the worst fashion. That says something about the so-so quality of the orchestra. The best recent recording of this work is the Pittsburgh on Pentatone... Pittsburgh outplays all the competition on this piece, including the Vienna Philharmonic on the OP DGG SACD. The pipe organ in this recording is another anemic European concert hall instrument of indifferent heft... The pedal division is simply NOT strong enough to really support the full rage of Strauss' orchestra, and THAT is the point of the composer requesting an instrument with a powerful set of 32-foot flues in the pedal. So, DO NOT BUY THIS FOR THE ORGAN!!! This organ is PUNY... also, the quality of the solo playing in this orchestra is quite uneven, if not bad, and does not even run a close second to the brilliant Pittsburgh musicians. What's worse, many European orchestras do not have the depth of proficiency in lower chair players to deal with this work, and in this case, even the solo playing is weak. When the music gets dense and very active, the intonation for these musicians goes OUT the window. So, the orchestra is nothing exceptional, just like its conductor... If one listens to the Pittsburgh players, NOTHING is out of place and the whole work is in control... It is delicate when it needs it, and rages like the elements when required, but still completely in control and IN TUNE...
Bychkov is no genius, either, in spite of all the efficient agents who keep him employed. Yes, he does get the orchestra through the work, but so can any other conductor. Again, this work remains brilliantly orchestrated musical tripe and this performance and its recording are NOTHING SPECIAL. The Till recording is mediocre, compared to Szell with Cleveland on CBS/Sony SACD.
Save your money...
For those with access to some Internet searches, who may want a surround recording of this work that is excellent, find the EMI/Angel DVD-Audio of the late Rudolf Kempe and the Dresden Staatskapelle with the Zarathustra tone poem as filler... Both performances are classics and the sound is wonderful. Kempe made a life-long specialty of the Alpensinsonie.
We still DO NOT HAVE an Alpensinfonie recording that is completely satisfactory, while the Pittsburgh recording comes very close, sonically and musically... the playing of that orchestra is so beautifully in tune it sounds almost beyond the possible, the balances are close to perfect and the orchestra manages to play with an amazing white heat that is a joy to hear, while still staying completely in control, and, no matter what virtuosity is required, the counterpoint always remains CLEAN!!! Unfortunately, the organ in Heinz Hall is a three-manual radio... UGH... Either a Baldwin or a Rogers... Another phenomenal recent recording in Pittsburgh is of the Respighi Roman Trilogy. The CBS/Sony production team thought the Heinz Hall instrument to be such a piece of crap that they dubbed in a New York City pipe organ in post production, BUT Maazel and that orchestra are nothing short of wonderful on that RBCD. Unfortunately, the pigs at SONY that hoard so many treasured recordings appear to have decided not to give music listeners access to them, except in mediocre issues...
Maybe Chandos will do this work at Liverpool Cathedral with THAT organ. If you are an enthusiast of large works for organ and orchestra, don't waste you money on this Profil...
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