My season subscription to the National SO continued on Jan.  19 with
an all-Strauss evening guest-conducted by Loren Maazel.  Metamorphosen,
with its incessant quotation of the Eroica's funeral march, opened the
program.  This is a piece I like a lot and this was the first time I've
heard it in live performance.  I've somehow collected three recordings
of it: Barbirolli, coupled with Mahler 6; a BBC Music Magazine cover
disc; and as part of a nine-disc box of Strauss orchestral music conducted
by Kempe.  That was followed by the piece that I went for, the Four Last
Songs.  It was disappointing to see Katarina Karneus canceling.  She was
replaced by Nancy Gustafson, who just wasn't up to the task, IMO.  I
imagine that only the world's top sopranos can acquit themselves well
in a concert hall the size of the Kennedy Center; lots of places where
the orchestra will just bury the poor soloist.  Fabulous playing by the
NSO, though.  After intermission, we had Don Juan and Til Eulenspiegel.
Lots of atmosphere in both these pieces, of course.  I've been on a
Strauss mini-binge lately, and I was glad to hear all of these in live
performance for the first time.

Next up, an evening consisting of Mozart 38, a world premiere by Schwantner,
Hindemith's Concert Music for Brass and Strings, and the Tchaikovsky VC1
with Midori.

Mitch Friedfeld