One could hear more emotionally dramatic performances. One could hear more expressively exciting performances. But for lovely and loving performances of
Strauss' Don Quixote and Le bourgeois gentilhomme, these performances conducted by the composer himself cannot be beat.
Strauss was not a histrionic conductor and his performances were simple, efficient, and to the point, the point being that the music speaks for itself and does not need an interpreter. With the
Berlin State Opera Orchestra and
Enrico Mainardi as the soloist,
Strauss' Don Quixote tells an enchanting story of the shining dreams of full of rich colors and lush melodies. Le bourgeois gentilhomme tells the story of witty and sensual dreams full of outlandishly charming colors and whimsically bizarre melodies. The playing on Don Quixote is warm and polished, while the playing on Le bourgeois gentilhomme is as virtuosic but rougher and more concentrated. The recorded sound was superb in the mid-'30s and it sounds even better in this quietly transparent Dutton 2004 remastering.