Audition: Richard Strauss: Ein Heldenleben/VPO Richard Strauss r. 1944

Richard Strauss: Ein Heldenleben

Conducted by the composer in 1944 with the Vienna Philharmonic — is fascinating both musically and historically. 

Note: the sonics are remarkably good for the period, and the recorded orchestral balance is maintained with impressive clarity throughout.

The playing of the Vienna orchestra is exceptional. The texture remains light enough for the full complement of woodwinds to emerge clearly, while the famed Vienna strings sound silky, sweet and refined. Very little here feels less than high quality.

From the very first page, one notices the difference between what Strauss wrote and how he actually conducted the work. Most striking is his flexible handling of tempo: he frequently presses forward slightly at climactic moments, presumably for dramatic effect, and the result is often electrifying.  But is somewhat surprising that, just before figure 4, Strauss and the orchestra become slightly unsettled. After figure 5, the strings sound a little untidy too, although Strauss keeps the woodwinds admirably clear and the brass restrained.  It is refreshing to hear Strauss giving the listener some relief from the score’s overwhelming power — something other conductors could learn from.  Presumably he’d learned a lot from his 2 previous recordings of the work.

At figure 10, Strauss accelerates dramatically into the full orchestral climax, creating considerable excitement, yet within only a few bars he reins the tempo back again. There is also a pronounced broadening before the pause at the end of the section, exaggerated far more than in most subsequent performances.

The “Hero’s Adversaries” section begins with Strauss at his most biting, the woodwinds especially pungent in character. Although the ensemble is occasionally uneven (around figure 15 for example), the high strings soon produce wonderfully ethereal textures, supported beautifully by the lower strings: in unmistakable Viennese style. Strauss’s flexibility in small transitional passages — such as the three bars before figure 19 — is particularly lovely, and one can only imagine how this must have sounded in the hall in the day.

By the time we reach figure 22 and “The Hero’s Companion”, Strauss arrives at one of the score’s most daring inspirations. Few composers would attempt to portray their spouse in music, yet Strauss undertakes the unenviable task of depicting his wife, a woman of strong temperament.  One wonders what Pauline thought of this.

The Vienna Philharmonic’s concertmaster, Willi Boskovsky, plays the opening violin solo with sweetness and charm, while Strauss shapes the accompaniment with unusual warmth. As the solo writing grows more elaborate, the violin becomes increasingly assertive, and the recording captures it all with astonishing presence — impressive even by modern standards. Much of this section is gorgeous, particularly from figure 32 onward, where the orchestral sonority becomes full-bodied and the harps are extraordinarily well defined despite the recording’s age.

Worth noting that just before figure 34, Strauss’s phrasing becomes somewhat distant and less focused.

An interesting contrast appears in the “Heroic Battlefield” section. Just before figure 44, Strauss avoids the all-out assault favoured by many later conductors; instead, he underplays the tension. Around figure 46, the ensemble becomes messy, perhaps connected to the earlier instability.

Nevertheless, most of the battle is vividly realised, and the Vienna Philharmonic sounds entirely at ease. Two bars before figure 58, Strauss suddenly injects tremendous force and animation — more than in almost any other interpretation I have heard. 

Elsewhere, the performance is distinguished by the exquisite balance between orchestral sections, especially the percussion, which in recordings of this era is often submerged beneath the larger forces. The strings are particularly magnificent just after figure 63, where Strauss combines the battling critics’ motifs with the Hero’s theme.

One incidental but remarkable detail is how clearly Strauss and the engineers capture the trombones despite the surrounding orchestral weight. Another memorable moment occurs at figure 80, where Strauss balances horns, trumpets, and tenor tuba with astonishing clarity — a sonority I have only otherwise encountered in recording the DG recording by Karl Böhm and this orchestra.

As we move into “The Hero’s Works of Peace”, Strauss adopts a brisk, occasionally unstable tempo. This section, built from quotations of themes from his earlier works, gives great prominence to the woodwinds. Yet at figure 89 Strauss pares back the strings considerably, drawing unusual attention to the brass writing before and after.

Another typically Straussian touch is the way “The Works of Peace” flows seamlessly and unsentimentally into the first pastoral episode. His integration of so many motifs and figures feels so natural that it is astonishing to consider the complexity of its construction.

In “The Hero’s Retirement”, Strauss becomes tense and volatile, ensuring the music never lingers too comfortably in its moments of grandeur. The Vienna brass are magnificent. After figure 100, Strauss layers the brass with great brilliance, while at figure 102 the low strings produce a wonderfully rich sonority. When the horns return, the effect is genuinely hair-raising — perhaps the most terrifying interpretation of this passage I have heard.

As we approach the final pages and the reconciliation of the Hero and his companion, Strauss briefly relaxes the momentum before figure 106, though the line soon regains its poise. The solo violin once again portrays Strauss’s wife with tenderness and elegance.

In the closing pages, Strauss conducts with extraordinary clarity, controlling the complex layering of the strings with complete assurance. The subtle final page is deeply beautiful, though Strauss drives the climaxes closer to triple forte than double forte, with the tam-tam contributing heavily to the final sonority. The percussion lends the ending an atmosphere that is both thrilling and valedictory — an overwhelming depiction of an ambitious composer contemplating his own artistic creation.

So this was probably a performance that Bohm, Karajan, Ormandy, Beecham, Krauss and the other conductors associated with Strauss heard first on record. And yet the music we hear from then isn’t quite what we hear now after nearly 80 decades later.