EDITOR’S PICK
RECORDING OF THE MONTH
RICHARD STRAUSS
Strauss: Andris Nelsons
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Andris Nelsons, cond.; Yuja Wang, piano; Yo-Yo Ma, cello
Deutsche Grammophon 486 2049 (7 CDs, auditioned as 24/96 WAV), 2022. Various prods. and engs.
PERFORMANCE
SONICS
At last, a box set of the orchestral works of Richard Strauss to rival the classic analog traversal from German conductor Rudolf Kempe and the Staatskapelle Dresden: a heaping helping of orchestral blockbusters, 93 tracks of music that, for color, splash, dynamic impact, fantasy, romance, wonder, and thrill, are without peer in the classical canon. Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks, Dons Juan and Quixote, Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Journey), Death and Transfiguration, Salome’s sensational “Dance of the Seven Veils,” and Also sprach Zarathustra—Stanley Kubrick’s journey to another galaxy, here propelled solely by sound—are but a few of the works on this recording. This is music that, for sheer impact, rivals that of Wagner and Mahler, but, where those composers plumb depths of despair and hopelessness, Strauss frequently leaves us smiling at some of the most seductively charming romantic music ever written.
Without question, Kempe’s many recordings bear the hallmark of Straussian authenticity. Kempe played oboe under Strauss in the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig—the “Mendelssohn” orchestra Strauss first conducted at age 23—then went on to take over the Dresden State Orchestra, to which Strauss dedicated Eine Alpensinfonie. Nelsons was born in Latvia 29 years after Strauss died, but he currently conducts two of the greatest orchestras that Strauss conducted in his lifetime: the very same Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig, which gave the premiere of the delightful ballet suite Schlagobers (Whipped Cream) under Bruno Walter, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, which Strauss conducted in 1904.
But Nelsons has far more than that going for him. As the master of , that German state of coziness that signifies warmth, peace of mind, good cheer, and a sense of belonging, waltzes through Nelsons’s DNA. His performance of the Concert Suite from is blessed with grace, lift, and lilt. Around the bloated bombast of the boorish Baron Von Ochs—pronounced “Ox” for good reason—and the wistfulness of the Marschallin, Nelsons weaves a spell that leaves us dizzy with delight. His music for the budding love between the young Octavian and Sophie immerses us in a universe where every sight, sound, and gesture is redolent with the perfume of wonder and innocence. Only the death hinted at in Strauss’s miraculous —the death that crashes down at the end of —suggests that
