Antal Dorati - Strauss: Ein Heldenleben, Rosenkavalier Suite (1950/52) [2009]

Outstanding performances - Doráti at his best

Fabulous-sounding selections from the Antal Doráti Centenary Society


"...The performance has an infectiously extrovert quality about it... Dorati's memorable interpretation...Both "The Hero's Battlefield" and the work's close are quite overwhelming in their impact. Pristine's sound... is remarkably good"
- Rob Cowan, Gramophone, Nov. 2009


These two excellent recordings from Doráti are, we believe, appearing in a digital format for the first time. The main work here, Ein Heldenleben, was selected by the Antal Doráti Centenary Society as an 'outstanding performance' for their Society website, as well as their book Antal Doráti and the Joy of Making Music.

This remastering, from superb transfers from the Society's archive, highlights once again just how good those reknowned Mercury recordings of the 1950s were, capturing brilliantly Doráti and the Minneapolis Orchestra at their very best. From a remastering point of view this was a joy to work on.

Meanwhile the slightly older RCA Victor recording proved particularly interesting. The arrangement is somewhat unusual, made by Doráti himself, rather than the more commonly heard arrangement by Strauss himself - the two start to diverge quite significantly from about halfway through. The Philadelphia Orchestra performing here under the pseudonym of the Robin Hood Dell Orchestra for contractual reasons.

Andrew Rose


Tracks:

R STRAUSS Ein Heldenleben
R STRAUSS Der Rosenkavalier Suite (arr. Doráti)

Personnel:

Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra
The Philadelphia Orchestra
conducted by Antal Doráti