R. Strauss: Josephs Legende

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Richard Strauss's ballet score Josephs Legende (1912-14) is one of the few mature works by Strauss that have received little attention, even after all this time. It's never performed (possibly because of its arcane subject matter) and rarely recorded. The catalog lists one full performance, now out of print, and one version of the 1947 shorter orchestral suite (an excellent version is on Chandos 9506 if you can find it). The ballet concerns the apocryphal biblical story of the young Joseph's near-seduction by Potiphar's wife. (Perhaps Salome handles this theme better.) This is the full version of the ballet, sumptuously performed by the Staatskapelle Dresden in a dynamic live recording with none of the intrusive ambient noise of concert performances. Highly recommended for all comers. --Paul Cook

Tracks:

The Legend Of Joseph: An Immense Pillared Hall In Palladian Style
The Legend Of Joseph: The Slave With Precious Stones The Slave With The Carpet, The Slave With The Greyhounds
The Legend Of Joseph: A Train Of Three Litters Comes Out Into The Loggia...
The Legend Of Joseph - Dance Of The Women: First Dance Figure
The Legend Of Joseph - Dance Of The Women: Second Dance Figure
The Legend Of Joseph - Dance Of The Women: Third Dance Figure
The Legend Of Joseph - Dance Of The Women: Sulamith's Dance: The Most Ardent Desire
The Legend Of Joseph: A Procession Of Men Appears Above....
The Legend Of Joseph: The Boxers Break Into A Sort Of Round Dance
The Legend Of Joseph: A Golden Hammock Appears In The Loggia...
The Legend Of Joseph - Dance Of Joseph: First Dance Figure: The Shepherd-Boy's Innocence
The Legend Of Joseph - Dance Of Joseph: Second Dance Figure: The Leaps
The Legend Of Joseph - Dance Of Joseph: Third Dance Figure: Searching And Wrestling After God
The Legend Of Joseph - Dance Of Joseph: Fourth Dance Figure: The Glorification Of God
The Legend Of Joseph: Just As Joseph Is Touched By Two Mulattos, Potiphar's Wife Starts As Though In A Dream...
The Legend Of Joseph: Potiphar Signals The End Of The Festivities
The Legend Of Joseph: Evening Falls
The Legend Of Joseph - Joseph's Dream: He Sees A Guardian Angel Approaching His Bed
The Legend Of Joseph: The Door Opens And Potiphar's Wife Steals In...
The Legend Of Joseph: Naked From His Shoulders To His Hips, Joseph Stands Before Her...
The Legend Of Joseph: At That Moment Two Servants With Torches Rush In...
The Legend Of Joseph: The Young Slave-Girl Arrives And Runs To Her Mistress With Arms Raised...
The Legend Of Joseph - Dance Of The Slave-Girls: First Dance Figure
The Legend Of Joseph - Dance Of The Slave-Girls: Second Dance Figure
The Legend Of Joseph: Potiphar Appears WithTorchbearers And Armed Men
The Legend Of Joseph: Henchmen Come Out Of The Palace Carrying A Brazier Filled With Red-Hot Embers...
The Legend Of Joseph: An Archangel Clad In Gold Appears...
The Legend Of Joseph: ...While A Procession Formed Around The Corpse Of Potiphar's Wife...Joseph And The Archangel Go Out Into The Open Air...

Amazon.com

Richard Strauss's ballet score Josephs Legende (1912-14) is one of the few mature works by Strauss that have received little attention, even after all this time. It's never performed (possibly because of its arcane subject matter) and rarely recorded. The catalog lists one full performance, now out of print, and one version of the 1947 shorter orchestral suite (an excellent version is on Chandos 9506 if you can find it). The ballet concerns the apocryphal biblical story of the young Joseph's near-seduction by Potiphar's wife. (Perhaps Salome handles this theme better.) This is the full version of the ballet, sumptuously performed by the Staatskapelle Dresden in a dynamic live recording with none of the intrusive ambient noise of concert performances. Highly recommended for all comers. --Paul Cook

Customer Reviews:

Elegant Performance from Sinopoli and the Staatskapelle Dresden of this lesser known Richard Strauss ballet.......2007-04-19

Richard Strauss's "Josephs Legende" may be the most neglected of his major works, and that's truly a shame, since it is replete with elegant melodies and harmonies from the opening notes to a glowing, truly magnificient, conclusion. Among these include several riveting dances devoted to Joseph and his affair with Potiphar's wife which form the latter half of the ballet. Regrettably, one of the reasons why this major ballet score has remained obscure is due to its relatively dark subject matter, namely that of the Biblical prophet Joseph and the events leading to his rescue by an angel, that involve not only adultery, but also madness and suicide. The late Giuseppe Sinopoli's interpretation with the Staatskapelle Dresden is absolutely riveting, and one that should have caught fire with critics and fans alike. This was among the last, if not the last, in a series of recordings which Sinopoli and his orchestra made for Deutsche Grammophon of Richard Strauss's scores. I personally think that it's as fine as the others, made more remarkable by the fact that this was a live concert recording, and yet, the sound quality is absolutely as exquisite as any from a Deutsche Grammophon studio recording made in the late 1990s. Hopefully one day this recording will be regarded as a classic of this little known work. If you are a great admirer of the Dresden Staatskapelle, Giuseppe Sinopoli and Richard Strauss, then I can assure you that you won't be disappointed.

A Beautiful Ballet.......2007-04-02

From the opening bars it is easy to tell that Richard Strauss's Josephs Legende is full of passion. The music is hardly lacking in drama or is boring and is characterized by some of the composers best melodies through to the shimmering conclusion. It full deserves to be better known and this recording but the late Giuseppe Sinopoli and the Dresden Staatkapelle is a marvelous performance. Highly recommended.

A gem of banality.......2005-09-30

Strauss once said, "I may not be a first-rate composer, but I am a first-rate seond-rate composer." His masterpieces would ead you to believe that he was, indeed, first-rate. But he had the maddening haibt of composing pointlessly virtuosic, endlessly harmonized, almost slithery music that was worse than second-rate. Despite Sinopoli on the podium to give it the plantinum treatment, Joseph's Legend is aimless, banal, and never-ending. It doesn't come from the veyr bottom of Struass's barrel but it comes close.

Make Room on Your Shelf..........2002-03-30

Bought this CD on a whim. After all, I've never walked around with snippits of "Josephs Legende" in my head. After listening to this recording, I was left to wonder why. It is vintage Strauss, pacing through turns lyrical and dramatic, and brimming with orchestral color. The late/great Sinopoli was in full command here, and what an army the Staatskapelle Dresden continues to be!

Strauss is not to everyone's tastes. However, if you have a soft-spot in your heart for Heldenleben, Don Quixote, Alpensinfonie or the sentimental strains of Zarathustra, you will find much to explore and enjoy in this outstanding recording. Highly recommended

A Neglected Ballet That Deserves Better.......2000-12-28

Josephs Legende is a work that may not be classed among the best of Richard Strauss but it is among his most interesting works. The music contains elements of Salome and something of his next opera Die Frau Ohne Schatten. It was a chore for the composer to write with a wordy and symbolic scenerio by Hoffmannsthal and Count Harry Kessler, but he managed to overcome these hurdles his objections to write a work conveying great passion.

The ballet was written for the Ballet Russe, and Nijinsky was to dance the role of Joseph and choreograph the dances. By the time the music was ready, Nijinsky had been fired by Diaghilev and replaced by Massine.

The ballet is definately something for Straussians. It is not a good introduction to Strauss's music but will be interesting to anyone who has heard Salome, Elektra and the earlier tone poems. The performance by Giuseppe Sinopoli and the Dresden Staatskapelle is marvelous and brings out the seductive magic of the music.

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