This record is historic for more than just one reason. First and foremost, we have the piece of work which was first performed in the very same Dresden Opera House in 1938, conducted by Karl Böhm, who had practically seen the score come together before his eyes while holidaying with his friend Strauss. A second reason is that this version, recorded live on June 11th 1950 at a concert in memory of the composer who had died the year before, brings together the greatest German singers of the era such as Gudrun Wuestemann, Helena Rott and Gottlob Frick under the direction of Rudolf Kempe. Kempe was one of the great Strauss interpreters, as shown by the eloquence of this complete recording of the latter's symphonic works, also made in Dresden for Electrola/EMI in the early 1970s.
But 20 years earlier, it was quite a feat to transmit and record a concert live from the RDA. Because the German factory had become Soviet property, the tape used was a rare commodity which generated a reliance on already recorded media which was often not in a good state. As for the sound quality, it was quite precarious and often over-modulated, which made for major distortions in the louder passages. Despite these many flaws, it is remarkably clear and remains perfectly listenable. This performance is full of passion as it marked one of the last nights for this admirably unified and coherent Dresden ensemble. Though less well-known than Richard Strauss’ other operas, Daphne is surely one of his best. Based on a libretto by Joseph Gregor and heavily revised by Stefan Zweig, it represents a turning point in the German composer's writing in terms of both its style and great orchestral difficulty. We should also underline the excellence of the bonus material which contains extracts from the world-first performance of 1938, accompanied by a wealth of documentation running up to nearly 90 richly-illustrated pages. © François Hudry/Qobuz