In the Warner Classics box set of performances by conductor Bruno Walter, the single-CD accounts of Franz Schubert and Robert Schumann are followed by a CD for a “completely different” composer. That composer is Johann Strauss II, often referred to as “The Waltz King.” The album has eight tracks, four of which are waltz compositions: “Wiener Blut” (probably best translated as “Viennese Spirit”), “Tales from the Vienna Woods,” “Rosen aus dem Süden” (roses from the south), and “Kaiser-Walzer” (Emperor waltz).
Alexander Girardi in the role of the title character of The Gypsy Baron (photograph by Rudolf Krziwanek, public domain, from Wikipedia)
The other four account for two overtures, each of which is given two performances. The opening track is the most familiar, the overture to Die Fledermaus with Walter conducting the Staatskapelle Berlin. This is paired with the penultimate track of the same overture performed by the Parisian Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire. The other opera is The Gypsy Baron, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra in 1938 and a 1929 recording at the Scala Theatre in London performed by an ensemble listed only as “Symphony Orchestra!” My guess is that at least a few readers will recall that these overtures also appeared in the Warner box set of the recordings made by Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam.
Mind you, I do not want to suggest a “competition” between the past lives of Walter and Harnoncourt. Each commanded a rich repertoire, and it did not surprise me at all that both of those repertoires included Viennese waltzes. Fortunately, both of the collections limit this genre to a single CD! As a result, when I want to listen to Gemütlichkeit, I now have the luxury of making informed choices!
