This double-disc set is a collection of
Strauss family works from some of Chandos' earlier releases. Although most of these are well-known and oft-recorded works, quite often recordings of those same works made by the world's top orchestras and conductors, perhaps with the exception of the Viennese ones, just don't make the cut. Those artists tend to forget that the
Strauss family conducted dance orchestras and that the music is meant to be danced to. They give more refined, stylized performances of what should be whirling waltzes, springy polkas, and festive marches. Specialized orchestras, such as the one here, not only know the music close enough to offer you the lesser-known selections, such as
Eduard Strauss' Glow-worms Waltz, they are hired to re-create the grand balls of late-nineteenth, early-twentieth century Vienna.
Jack Rothstein leads the Johann Strauss Orchestra in wholly idiomatic performances here. It falls short of sparkling brilliancy and crispness, but it is by no means dull and it does have a general clarity of sound that doesn't obscure the odd bell or rattle when those are thrown in. The animation and lightheartedness of these performances remind you why these works are often called "bon-bons."