Prom 75: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra -- Haydn & R. Strauss R. Strauss - An Alpine Symphony Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Bernard Haitink conductor Royal Albert Hall, 7 September 2012
A splendid performance. Controlled yet full of emotion. I watched this live soon after my wife's death from cancer in summer of that year. It was uplifting and in Sunset I felt her spirit giving me hope and love for the future - a truly remarkable piece of music.
Dr. Strauss - one of classical music's finest orchestrators of any period. He was better than almost anyone at the painting of musical pictures through his sometimes miraculous tone poems. And such delightful music as well!
my favorite part is the "calm before the storm"... i can picture it all like i just saw it. There is a stillness, there is no wind, no anything, its all just... calm. and then a few droplets of rain as the clouds come rolling in... followed by the wind picking up, as well as the rain. it's amazing how one can create such a scene through music alone... i can't imagine how moving it would be to hear that in person. bravo
I followed the story to get to your section,... you like the transcendent,... it feels like you are flying off the top of the mountain when you listen to these sections..
@@steveburrus5526 it's very ascendant and heroic, which I suppose is the reason why some people gravitate towards this kind of melody/Wagnerian inspired uplifting type, and some prefer more of Rach's melancholy. They are both extremely melodic in their own ways, no doubt
I listen to music like this and wonder why there's any problems in the world. This is why I want to be a composer. I respect them more than anyone else. They have found the best way to unite many groups of diverse people towards a common goal. The end result is the most mind blowing music that has ever been created. I'm a teenager. I'm grateful that instead of doing drugs and being a jerk I can experience Strauss' epic adventure.
You can learn not to be a jerk. It takes a couple of girlfriends however and some pain. Doing drugs? Never stop there. Don't do tobacco or alcohol, now that is stupid.
Let the composer himself convey what this symphony means to him, writing in his journal upon the death of Gustav Mahler in 1911 (according to Wikipedia): "It is clear to me that the German nation will achieve new creative energy only by liberating itself from Christianity ... I shall call my alpine symphony: Der Antichrist, since it represents: moral purification through one's own strength, liberation through work, worship of eternal, magnificent nature." How did this "new creative energy" work out for Strauss's beloved Germany, in the light of the subsequent World Wars I and II (which he managed to survive, passing away in 1949)?
Well, it is obvious that it did not. In C. G. Jung's words, Christianity was always like "a cloak worn over age-old primitiveness" for the average European. It was not that the German nation needed to liberate themselves from Christianity, but that they had to be aware of the pagan and primitive within. Wotan, the God of war, was awakened and had his revenge on them. My grandfather lost his life becasue of the Second World War, my parents suffered tremendously. To this day, so do his children, including myself. How can such a creative nation that makes such great music be so primitive? Could it be because they lack what every religion tries to teach: Humility????
One of several things I've learned in over 70 years of life is that the opinions of critics, whatever their supposed credentials, are of no more value than yours or mine. As Mahler said, the listener's is the only opinion that really matters.
Eine Alpensinfonie (An Alpine Symphony) 0:10 Nacht (Night) 3:45 Sonnenaufgang (Sunrise) 5:16 Der Anstieg (The Ascent) 7:45 Eintritt in den Wald (Entry into the Forest) 13:14 Wanderung neben dem Bache (Wandering by the Brook) 14:05 Am Wasserfall (At the Waterfall) 14:21 Erscheinung (Apparition) 15:11 Auf blumigen Wiesen (On Flowering Meadows) 16:06 Auf der Alm (On the Alpine Pasture) 18:28 Durch Dickicht und Gestrüpp auf Irrwegen (Through Thickets and Undergrowth on the Wrong Path) 20:03 Auf dem Gletscher (On the Glacier) 21:17 Gefahrvolle Augenblicke (Dangerous Moments) 22:51 Auf dem Gipfel (On the Summit) 28:03 Vision (Vision) 31:38 Nebel steigen auf (Mists Rise) 31:56 Die Sonne verdüstert sich allmählich (The Sun Gradually Becomes Obscured) 32:48 Elegie (Elegy) 34:41 Stille vor dem Sturm (Calm Before the Storm) 37:36 Gewitter und Sturm, Abstieg (Thunderstorm and Tempest, Descent) 41:54 Sonnenuntergang (Sunset) 44:40 Ausklang (Quiet Settles / Epilogue) 50:17 Nacht (Night)
What an awesome amazing alpine journey I've just been on. This truly epic performance with the VPO ranks as total perfection as far as I'm concerned. The main beautiful theme that runs through this majestic music makes the hairs on the back of my head stand to attention as does that incredible powerful thunderstorm part with the hardworking lads on percussion which of course includes the great sound of the wind machine. I really wish that I'd been there at the Albert Hall on that day but nevertheless I can listen to this piece of excellent Strauss anytime I like as I still have it on an old cassette by the LAPO/ Mehta.
Sinfonía como la Naturaleza, calma antes de la Tormenta, y de pronto las vicisitudes de la vida tormentosamente azotandonos en todos los aspectos de vida; después inicia la calma de nuevo y preguntándonos qué hice para merecer todo esto, sufrimos lloramos, nos arrastramos y finalmente despertamos a Conciencia y viene la Reflexión de que todo es para Progresar Espiritualmente y al fin Poder decir Comulgue con el Creador y toda la Vida tiene entonces tiene Sentido.
Easily one of my new favorite symphonies. I discovered it when I was invited to see the Cleveland Orchestra perform it in September. It did not disappoint and legitimately moved me to tears. It's so beautiful. Words can't do it justice.
Fantastic to see people spellbound and carried away by intense feelings. The healing power of a higher form of music here and one of those soaring achivements of the race that we should all be proud of.
Grandiosa questa sinfonia ! Ogni ascolto mi fa rivivere un viaggio nella meravigliosa natura e nelle maestose Montagne . Grande l'orchestra e passionale
I completely agree. I am now in my 70's and I have felt as you do since early adolescence. YT is a wonder with all its rich resources in classical music and opera. Recordings and performance I only heard spoken of over the years are available to the public and at home!! Miracles do happen!! :)
Haitink by now, after Von Karajan, Kempe and others in modern recordings, has grown for me into 'the King of the Alpine'. Nowhere else nowadays this total grasp on the whole and this peculiar Straussian mix of tension and serenity. To mention just two superior features of this unsurpassed rendition.
Gorgeous performance, perfectly balanced and structured;as mostly with Haitink. On CD: H. with the RCO at the time he was its principle conductor. Same level, different sound. Gold: W.Ph. Silver (as precious): RCO.
being told to hold back on bass trombone in this piece must be heartbreaking. My condolences to all the bass trombonists of the world whose conductors decided to not let you blast pedal Gs during "On the Summit"
I don't agree. Although you listen this work a hundred times the best visit you can do in the Alps is to walk in there. A musical work can't be a praise for laziness.
boooooooy - that`s great !!!! thanks again fot the upload i really really hope to visit a public viewing event of the proms in 2013 !! greetz from Germany.
I can wait to play this in my new orchestra in October, its going to be amazing. Such a gorgeous piece although the 1st violin part looks...interesting lol
Just today I've introduced myself to Dvorak's _Rusalka_, Dukas' _Ariane et Barbe Bleue_ (like, he wrote something other than the _Sorcerer's Apprentice_, am I right?) and now this magnificent _Alpine Symphony_. It's a lot to take in all at once, but it just fascinates how _inexhaustible_ of a fountain an orchestra is. And there's still _so_ much exploration to be done by each one of us, classical enthusiasts...
I've been discovering orchestral music since I was around 13 and I'm now 58 and still making new discoveries! The so called "core repertory" played by the major orchestras so so unbelievably tiny compared to what is out there and I'm talking first class music not second rate stuff.
7 лет назад
Yes, the sea is vast. I usually end up exhausting onde composer at a time. Right now I'm focusing a lot on Brahms. There's this playlist of concert excerpts from Berliner Philharmoniker on YT that is really good as an introductory platform to the composer's music (I mean, beyond his 5th Hungarian Dance). Actually, I should listen some more of it right now.
Sergio youj are a better classical music afficianado than I am if you have explored Dvorak's "Rusalka" opera which I haven't gone anywhere near yet in my life.
Steve, go for it! Especially Rene Fleming and Bernard Heppner, with the Czech Phil under Mackerras! The first time I heard Rusalka, I could not believe that I had never heard it before. I was completely hooked, and now it is firmly among my very favourite operas. Having said that, this work is up there with the best as well. (and I won't forget Rachmaninov, who never fails me!)
It is short for the word ' promenade', and refers to the fact that the front stall seats are removed, leaving the audience members to move about ( or 'promenade' during the performance, if they wish.
I recommend the extended commentary made on Strauss's art and its relation to tradition and separateness fro contemporary styles by Glenn Gould. It's on you tube. Extremely penetrating critic.
симфоническая поэма - Альпийская симфония, op. 64. Которую Рихард Штраус закончил 8 февраля 1915 года. До самого последнего момента сочинение носило заголовок «Антихрист. Альпийская симфония», который указывал на одноимённое сочинение Ф.Ницше
I think you forget Carl Nielsen, who, before he was a well-known composer, he played trombone in some orchestras, so he knew well how to make the brass sound.
