Many orchestras and broadcasting companies have been opening up their files to release projects of interest on disc. This concert from 1986 featuring the London Philharmonic and the late Klaus Tennstedt presents the orchestra in material which was central to this conductor’s oeuvre. Originally a BBC broadcast, only the Strauss Bourgeois Gentilhomme suite has seen light of day previously as a part of a BBC Legends release coupled with Janacek’s Glagolitic Mass. However, this new release makes more sense as part of an all-Strauss program, which also features the glorious Jessye Norman at her finest.

Jessye Norman

The suite from Le Bourgeos Gentilhomme is adapted from 17th-century French music, which Strauss wrote to accompany Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s update of Molière for the celebrated Max Rheinhardt. It is essentially, and attractively, Lully, harmonised and adapted by Strauss, and it is this suite, with a piano replacing the harpsichord, which is generally heard. As one would expect, Tennstedt excels in Strauss, but it is the vocal works with Norman which will appeal to most listeners.

Jessye Norman is...