Fanfare 1
Five stars: Don Juan and Ein Heldenleben, superbly performed by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and Hans Graf
STRAUSS Don Juan. Ein Heldenleben  Hans Graf, cond; Singapore SO  OUR 8.226934 (63:35) Reviewed from a wav download with resolution 16/44.1

Two venerable, and oft-performed/recorded orchestral tone poems by Richard Strauss are played with distinction by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and music director Hans Graf. The headlong opening of Don Juan, smartly executed, and brimming with irrepressible energy, sets the stage for the remainder of the performance. Graf expertly sculpts the various episodes so that each makes its individual effect and complements the surrounding passages. The pacing on this Don Juan is as seamless and assured as any I’ve heard. The Singapore SO plays marvelously. Guest concertmaster Markus Tomasi (Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg) lavishes a sweet, beguiling tone and elegant phrasing upon his solos.
If the performance of Ein Heldenleben isn’t quite as accomplished, it’s still well worth hearing. The initial episode, again beautifully played, lacks the ideal boldness and swagger. But the portrait of Strauss’s critics is superbly etched; their pettiness is manifested in characterful, pointed wind playing. Another guest concertmaster, David Coucheron (Atlanta Symphony Orchestra) is brilliant in his portrait of Strauss’s mercurial wife, Pauline. Coucheron’s gorgeous tone, seductive phrasing, and pristine, bravura execution of daredevil passages are exemplary. The battle sequence, realized with appropriately menace and violence, yields to the peaceful concluding episodes, where Graf’s broad pace and affectionate phrasing bring great rewards. The recorded sound places the listener in the middle of a resonant concert hall that nonetheless offers adequate detail.
Neither of these recordings displaces my reference versions, all stereo RCA releases with Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The CSO/Reiner Don Juan (1954 and 1960 versions) and Heldenleben (1954) offer a level of orchestral precision, tonal sheen, and infallible pacing that justifies the recordings’ legendary status. And the RCA recorded sound continues to impress. But the Singapore SO and Hans Graf serve these Strauss masterpieces extraordinarily well, in versions that I will return to frequently. Enthusiastically recommended. Ken Meltzer