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John Hardy John Hardy is offline
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Default Zarathustra SACD/DSD

On 5/12/2021 7:31 PM, Nil wrote:
On 12 May 2021, wrote in rec.audio.pro:

On Wed, 12 May 2021 15:10:05 -0400, Nil
wrote:

On 11 May 2021, MiNe109 wrote in
rec.audio.pro:

The version on the MGM soundtrack album, Karl Bohm/Berlin,
wasn't used in the movie. Alex North's rejected soundtrack has
also been recorded.

Interesting, I did not know that! I've seen the film many times,
and I've had the soundtrack LP since it came out. I never noticed
that they are different recordings. I've listened to the
soundtrack LP the most, and that's how it's supposed to sound to
me. The biggest goose-bump moment for me is the bit of pipe organ
that pops out at the very end. The Bohm/Berlin LP version holds
the chord longer and is brighter and has a beautiful shimmering
quality. The Karajan/Vienna film version organ is a bit less
prominent. I also listened to the Reiner/Chicago version mentioned
above. I don't like it nearly as much! It's too brassy, and the
strings are too subdued. Also the organ is quite flat compared to
the orchestra.


Consensus seems to be there are 4 or 5 excellent recordings.Here's
a good discussion. There are 5 pages to click.

https://www.talkclassical.com/65666-...ecordings.html

Thanks for that - interesting discussion by people who would know better
than I. Nobody mentions the Bohm/Berlin version as a favorite, but it's the
one I've heard the most so it sounds most right to me. The Karajan/Vienna
film version is similar and also excellent, but the pipe organ bits don't
have the same impact for me.


I vote for the Bohm/Berlin version from 1958, available in a variety of
collections. (Beware the CBS Records version, there is a ton of subsonic
stuff that will make your woofers come unhinged).

When 2001 A Space Odyssey was released in 1968, I did not go to see it.
But I did buy the official LP soundtrack, which included the Bohm/Berlin
version of Zarathustra. I played Zarathustra often and LOUD. It was very
exhilarating. It wasn't until years later that I saw the movie and heard
the Karajan version. Frankly, I was disappointed in the Karajan version.
It seemed to be missing the intensity and tension and emotion of the
epic battle that the piece supposedly represents. The Bohm/Berlin
version, in my humble opinion, nailed it.

I have no idea how the piece was intended to be played by Strauss, but I
love the Bohm/Berlin version, played LOUD. REALLY LOUD. On my long list
of things to do that I will likely never get to, is to remaster the
movie with the Bohm/Berlin version in place of the Karajan version.

But I am no expert on classical music. Just one guy's opinion.

John Hardy