New Kempe Strauss CD!

Our July release is now available, a monumental Richard Strauss performance available on CD at last! Details are the website. Thank you so much.

The RPO Alpine Symphony, the review includes

'... this brilliant performance, considered by many to be far superior to Kempe's later remake with an inferior Dresden ensemble.'

An inferior Dresden ensemble?

They were certainly no match for the Royal Phil in this work.

For a performance to be 'far superior' than the Dresden recording, it must be pretty darn extraordinary.

Depends on the date. Remember the Dresden Staatskapelle was in the former East Germany, and went through many ups and downs under that regime. It is certainly fair to say it was no match for many top drawer Western orchestras during most of the'60s and '70s. They did pull off a few outstanding performances under Kempe, Karajan, Kegel and Konwitschny, but the average was rather drab.

Back in 1996 I asked this group about the inferior Dresden ensemble that Kempe led. Among those who responded favorably concerning Kempe and the Dresden Staatskapelle were Henry Fogel and Don Patterson. There were other comments by knowledgeable individuals who seem to no longer post here. You can read the commments here:
http://tinyurl.com/fdws

In those less contentious days, no one thought the most important thing to do was to correct my misspelling of the name of the orchestra in question. I guess some things do change.

In article

Kempe made some fine recordings in Dresden; but I don't think I'm the only person on the planet who believes that in this work, they are outclassed by a phenomenally virtuosic Royal Philharmonic. Other views may differ. After all, 'everyone has a right to my opinion' [quote-unquote from the late, great David Brinkley].

And I realize that had the RPO/Kempe recordings been available then, the same people who praised the Dresden group may have thought more highly of the RPO.

anyone heard the BEETHOVEN 3 on Kempe's Great Conductors series ? it is with RPO. live or studio recording ?

Haven't heard it (it's set for August release here), but it's a first-time release, so I assume it's live.

There is an alleged Kempe / Stockholm Phil 'Eroica' from 1975 on a Japanese CD-R label. Haven't heard it

They also pulled off an amazingly played Schumann cycle for Sawallisch.