MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

REVIEW


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 

 

alternatively
CD:
Sound Samples & Downloads

Josef STRAUSS (1827-1870)
The best of
Full details at end of review
Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra/Alfred Walter, Michael Dittrich, Christian Pollack, Mika Eichenholz, Ernst Märzendorfer, Karl Albert Geyer
rec. details not given
NAXOS 8.556846 [78:09]

 


alternatively
CD: MDT AmazonUK AmazonUS
Sound Samples & Downloads

Carl Michael ZIEHER (1843-1922)
The best of
Full details at end of review
Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra; Razumovsky Sinfonia/Christian Pollack, Alfred Walter, Michael Dittrich
rec. details not given
NAXOS 8.556848 [80:13]

Experience Classicsonline


I have often looked with curiosity at the various very tempting Marco Polo discs of the Complete Works of composers most of whose music is unknown to me. However choice of individual discs from these sets – twenty-five discs of Josef Strauss and five of Ziehrer at the last count - has seemed like a lottery. Naxos has now solved the problem of which to choose by issuing what are in effect highlights discs from these two series. I had already heard and very much enjoyed a similar disc of music by Lumbye, and these continue the same path.

Discs said to contain the best of, say, Bach, Mozart or Beethoven are likely to contain odd movements. Inevitably this can scarcely do justice to the composers’ intentions. In contrast those of music by composers of dance or other light music can represent them at something like their best and give a good overview, even if the precise choice may not correspond to your personal preferences. Both of these discs contain a series of pieces in different genres. Josef Strauss is represented by waltzes, various kinds of polka and a march, and the Ziehrer disc adds two Overtures. Both are generously filled and have the kind of detailed notes that add much to the enjoyment of these pieces, and both are well recorded and well played.

Of the two composers I have no doubt that Josef Strauss is the more interesting and accomplished. Sphärenklänge is an unquestionable masterpiece of its type and none of the other works on this disc is less than enjoyable. Most are indeed much more than that – the composer’s wonderful mixture of poetry and exuberance, and his ability to vary textures and musical character ensures that each piece remains wholly individual. Perhaps it would have been much better to have arranged the order so that waltzes were not immediately followed by other waltzes and polkas by other polkas, but the listener can easily arrange their own preferred sequence. Two points are worth mentioning. Feuerfest! (Fireproof) was written for a party at a company who made iron safes. It is notable for its evocation of the forge hammers, but what we hear on this disc is a very decorous tinkle which is frankly ineffectual. The opening of Deutsche Grüße was the model for Wunderbar in Kiss me Kate. How better indeed to evoke the world of the Viennese waltz.

The disc of music by Carl Michael Ziehrer is a similar mixture, but I must admit to some disappointment with the music itself, which is pleasant enough, but which was never very individual or memorable. It is worth hearing if you are an enthusiast for Viennese dance music, but is scarcely likely to be a priority for anyone else.

Both discs are well recorded and, despite the array of conductors on each, the standard of performance is consistently high. There is no sense of regret that a Viennese group had not been chosen – the rhythms and phrasing are always idiomatic. Naxos have done both composers a real service by issuing these discs. I hope that this will lead some listeners to explore their music further – especially that of Josef Strauss.

John Sheppard

Contents
Josef Strauss
Ohne Sorgen! (Quick Polka) Op 271 [1:55]
Schlaranffen-Polka Op 179 [2:58]
Die Gazelle (Polka Mazurka) Op 155 [4:41]
Hesperus-bahnen (Waltz) Op 279 [9:52]
Wiener Fresken (Waltz) Op 249 [8:35]
Heiterer Muth (French Polka) Op 281 [3:33]
Phönix-Marsch Op 105 [2:00]
Deutsche Grüße (Waltz) Op 39 [10:07]
Perlen der Liebe (Concert Waltz) Op 39 [10:47]
Sphärenklänge (Waltz) Op 235 [12:19]
Feuerfest! (French Polka) Op 269 [3:12]
Brennende Liebe (Polka Mazurka) Op 129 [5:23]
Steeple chase (Quick Polka) Op 43 [2:15]

Carl Michael Ziehrer
Overture to Der Fremdenführer (The Tourist Guide) [6:30]
Wiener Bürger (Waltz) Op 419 [7:24]
Loslassen!!!! (Quick Polka) Op 386 [2:13]
Ballfieber (French Polka) Op 406 [4:53]
Weaner Madl’n (Waltz) Op 388 [10:21]
Mein Feld die Welt (March) Op 499 [2:55]
Sei Brav (Waltz) Op 522 [8:34]
Lieber Bismarck schaukle nicht (French Polka) Op 465 [2:24]
Wenn man Geld has, ist man fein! (March) Op 539 [2:18]
Ohne Sorgen (Quick Polka) Op 104 [2:50]
Endlich allein! (French Polka) Op 390 [2:19]
Österreich in Tönen (Waltz) Op 373 [8:04]
Bürgerlich und romantisch (Polka Mazurka) Op 94 [4:24]
Matrosen (French Polka) Op 449 [3:14]
Overture to Manöverkinder (Children of the Guard) [8:06]
Freiherr von Schönfeld (March) Op 422 [3:04]

 

 

 

 

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools






Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.