Author: Bobo
Date: 2007-05-22 16:35
Strauss apparently thought his concerto should be peformed with the aid of a mechanical breathing device, so my guess is his preference would have been to hear it done with circular breathing...certainly, de Lancie thought it was entirely legitimate to override the composer, but he didn't do so without consulting a variety of other musicians and even the composer's family! Then, there was a tussle with Boosey Hawkes to get them to make available his orchestration of the piece with all the subsititutions..they initially resisted even though de Lancie had the explicit support of Strauss's family.
If you listen to klein's version, it's pretty seamless with a couple of points where his volume diminishes and one suspects he's c.b.ing - his first audible breath comes at the rest in the second measure after 3 (Boosey Hawkes edition)...this is not to say other interpretations are not equally valid from a musical point of view. But when you listen to, for example, the Lucarelli version or the winner of the Gillet competition a few years ago, you have to conclude that the need to breathe (assuming the inability to pull off a seamless c.b.) MAY be compromising the musical interpretation at least a bit...in other words, interpretation is bowing to necessity...just to take an example, i notice that some of the finalists were breathing during the 10th measure after 2 between the F# and the D#...given that there is a huge slur over the entire passage one could question the interpretation even while enjoying the performance and understanding the need for compromise! Lucarelli breathes (I think, or it may be a c.b. moment, or possibly just a pause) between the F# and the A in the measure before 2, also under a big slur. What I love about the Klein performance is that his c.b.'ing enables him to take the tempo down to a leisurely 85 vs the usual c. 100, which is really nice for a change!
Post Edited (2007-05-22 16:38)
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