Karajan's earlier DG recording has long held sway and up to now would be my preferred ver-sion in spite of the excellence of many of its rivals. This newcomer has, of course, the advantage of the new technology and so far as the CD is concerned, can offer the greater dynamic range and presence particularly at the extreme bass and treble. Compact Disc has only been with us for just over a year and the current catalogue already lists three versions of Also sprach (Mehta on CBS Ozawa on Philips and Dorati on Decca).
In the early days of LP, the Clemens Krauss / Decca mono version reigned unchallenged for some four years! How, then, does the CD compare with its rivals and how does the LP fare against the dozen or more alternative versions listed in the current Gramophone Classical Catalogue, not least Karajan's own 1974 version (also on DG)? Let me say that as a performance this newcomer will be very hard to beat and looking at it solely from the viewpoint of a CD collector it would be my first choice. The playing of the BPO is as glorious as ever, its virtuosity can be taken for granted along with its sumptuous tonal refinement, and in Strauss, of course, Karajan has no peer. As a recording it is very good indeed though it does not offer the spectacular definition and transparency of detail of the Dorati CD, but the playing, it goes without saying, is in a totally different league. Of course, couplings also come into it and Dorati offers a rarity in the form of Macbeth, whereas both Ozawa and Mehta are handicapped by having no coupling at all—and I am sure many collectors will think twice before paying £10.00 or so for 35 minutes of music. I put the Karajan CD alongside the LP, not of the present version but his 1974 account and was surprised to discover how well the latter held up. In fact, the upper strings have, if anything, almost as much bloom in the earlier recording, though brass and lower strings are more vividly defined. Soon after our review copy of the LP had arrived DG announced that it was to be re-mastered— hence the tardy appearance of this review. I asked a visiting friend to play for me excerpts from the two LP versions alongside each other without identifying them, and such is the excellence of the 1974 record that it is quite possible to get confused! The famous opening has greater intensity in the 1974 version and it is possible to prefer the marginally greater warmth and glow of the strings in the early account—the DG engineers adopt a slightly closer balance on this newcomer—while recognizing the greater range and impressive detail, particularly in the bass, of this 1984 recording.
In short, any collector who has the 1974 LP either as part of the five-LP Strauss boxed set (2740 111, 10/74) or in its separate form listed above, will probably think twice before making the change. Collectors who have missed the 1974 account will note that this newcomer offers a bonus in the form of Don Juan and, were I in the position of starting to build an LP collection, this newcomer would be a first choice. I greatly prefer the new Don Juan to its current rivals on CD listed above: Abbado and the LSO (DG) are just a shade too brisk for my taste, as I indicated in my first review, while the Detroit version under Dorati (Decca) has excellent recording but is otherwise undistinguished. To sum up, then, this new issue is a strong first recommendation for CD collectors on both artistic and technical grounds, so far as the LP collector is concerned were DG to reissue the 1974 Zarathustra at mid-price, it would have to be a first recommendation but at full price, it must—by the narrowest of margins and thanks as much to Don Juan as anything else—yield pride of place to the newcomer. '