Johann Strauss Sohn (1825-1899)

[Florestan]

Ever since I was a teen Joh. Strauss Jr has enlivened many an otherwise dull or dour evening. I hold him as one of Music's best tunemeisters ever (along with Mozart, Schubert and Bizet). My disc collection will always have a place for his irresistible confections.

There's a superb Naxos Complete Orchestral Works series, in case you missed it. 

[ChamberNut]

There's a superb Naxos Complete Orchestral Works series, in case you missed it. 

Oh my goodness, 52 discs!      Amazingly, it sounds tempting. 

[Lisztianwagner]

There's a superb Naxos Complete Orchestral Works series, in case you missed it. 

Oh my goodness, 52 discs!      Amazingly, it sounds tempting. 

It really is, that box set is a true gem!

[Brian]

A used copy is for sale on this forum 

[Albion]

It really is, that box set is a true gem!

I collected every disc of the Johann Strauss II Edition when they came out originally on Marco Polo. I also have the complete Johann Strauss I and Josef Strauss Editions, together with the 3 Eduard Strauss CDs, the 11 Waldteufel CDs, the 5 Ziehrer CDs and the 6 volumes of Franz von Suppe overtures. This is all simply just great music and eternal gratitude is due to Marco Polo and Naxos for maintaining very high standards of recording and presentation throughout these landmark projects...

[Albion]

Listening to the NYD concert from Vienna, the veteran conductor Riccardo Muti is doing a fantastic job (he's 83 and this is his 7th New Year concert!). The programme is short on novelties but is well-balanced and showcases some of Johann II's finest scores, including the overture to "Der Zigeunerbaron". I would like to see more Ziehrer, Kálmán, Oscar Straus and Lehar being promoted...

[Albion]

I'm so glad that I invested in the VPO box covering the performed NYD repertoire up until 2015 (Sony). Every one of the 23 discs is a delight and I especially love the way in which the engineers have elided applause seamlessly from number to number in spite of the often wide discrepancy in recording dates...

 

[ChamberNut]

A used copy is for sale on this forum 

 

[Florestan]

Listening to the NYD concert from Vienna, the veteran conductor Riccardo Muti is doing a fantastic job (he's 83 and this is his 7th New Year concert!). The programme is short on novelties but is well-balanced and showcases some of Johann II's finest scores, including the overture to "Der Zigeunerbaron". I would like to see more Ziehrer, Kálmán, Oscar Straus and Lehar being promoted...

Very nice concert. I loved Muti's minimal conducting gestures. It's as if he told the whole world: Hey, these guys and girls have the music in their blood, they need me only for fun and fun I will give. Very enjoyable.

[Lisztianwagner]

Listening to the NYD concert from Vienna, the veteran conductor Riccardo Muti is doing a fantastic job (he's 83 and this is his 7th New Year concert!). The programme is short on novelties but is well-balanced and showcases some of Johann II's finest scores, including the overture to "Der Zigeunerbaron". I would like to see more Ziehrer, Kálmán, Oscar Straus and Lehar being promoted...

Very nice concert. I loved Muti's minimal conducting gestures. It's as if he told the whole world: Hey, these guys and girls have the music in their blood, they need me only for fun and fun I will give. Very enjoyable.

Agreed, it was surely a very enchanting concert; Muti conducted excellentlly, his gesturality was collected and measured, but he was able to convey the right lively spirit to the orchestra and to the audience anyway. The Wiener Philharmoniker played with high quality as usual. The programme was brilliant and cheerful, although a bit conservative, I would have liked if the 200th anniversary of Johann Strauss II had been celebrated with some new pieces never played before, but certainly nothing can be criticized to splendid works like Lagunen-Walzer, Annen-Polka or Wein, Weib und Gesang.

Next year the conductor will be Yannick Nézet-Séguin, I didn't know he also had the Viennese waltzes in his repertoire; interesting choice.

[Florestan]

It was a clever move to frame the programme between Freiheits-Marsch and Radetzky-Marsch (the Marseillaise of the conservatives, as I've seen it dubbed rather witty I don't remember when, where and by whom). 

[Mapman]

I quite enjoyed the radio broadcast of this year's New Year's Concert. For me the highlight was Josef's Dorfschwalben aus Österreich. Walzer, op. 164, a piece that I wasn't previously aware of.

[ChamberNut]

Oh my goodness, 52 discs!      Amazingly, it sounds tempting. 

@Lisztianwagner

You'll be happy to know this has now made its way into my home. 

[Lisztianwagner]

@Lisztianwagner

You'll be happy to know this has now made its way into my home. 

Immensely! I didn't know you were a Strauss lover.

I hope you'll like it, it's not exactly like listening to the Wiener Philharmoniker, but the performances in that box set are extremely good anyway.

[Florestan]

Immensely! I didn't know you were a Strauss lover.

I hope you'll like it, it's not exactly like listening to the Wiener Philharmoniker, but the performances in that box set are extremely good anyway.

And the booklets are excellent, like small chunks of Viennese and Austrian cultural history.

[ChamberNut]

Immensely! I didn't know you were a Strauss lover.

I hope you'll like it, it's not exactly like listening to the Wiener Philharmoniker, but the performances in that box set are extremely good anyway.

Although much of this music will be brand new to me, probably well over 80% of it. But of the music of his I have heard I have enjoyed.

As a huge fan of ballet music, it is certainly close to that sound world. I really look forward to this journey!

[Albion]

Although much of this music will be brand new to me, probably well over 80% of it. But of the music of his I have heard I have enjoyed.

As a huge fan of ballet music, it is certainly close to that sound world. I really look forward to this journey!

You definitely won't regret acquiring this wonderful series. I have just decanted the 52 original discs, with their individual booklets, into clear plastic wallets as a space-saving measure. A couple of issues are of lesser interest than others (especially volume 40) but the orchestras are fine, the playing is idiomatic (except when the final section of some quadrilles is occasionally taken at a ridiculously fast speed with an unmarked accelerando) and the conductors generally don't get in the way of the music (always a good thing).

I wish that Naxos would also box-up their Johann Strauss I (25 CDs) and Josef Strauss (26 CDs) editions to make them more economically viable rather than having to hunt around for the individual Marco Polo volumes...

[Lisztianwagner]

I wish that Naxos would also box-up their Johann Strauss I (25 CDs) and Josef Strauss (26 CDs) editions to make them more economically viable rather than having to hunt around for the individual Marco Polo volumes...

Agreed, it's rather strange that, although there are all the individual volumes, they haven't been been included into box sets yet.