Strauss: Alpine Symphony

I have listened to quite a few Alpine Symphonies over the decades, and it remains my favorite Strauss work. So, when a new performance comes along, I am eager to hear it. Most are also-rans to Karajan and Kempe, but this one with Daniel Harding at the helm and the Saito Kinen Orchestra is definitely top shelf. The Decca disc has only the symphony, and at 51:59, it isn’t a bargain. Don’t let the total time dissuade you from hearing it, for this is a deep and revealing account with just the right portion of gravitas scattered among its soaring melodic lines.That this performance is not just another flash in the pan is evident from the first few measures of Nacht. Harding has the pulse of this music like no one else I have heard recently. I think his interpretation approaches that of the giants. This music represents Strauss’ love of nature. He was raised at the foot of mountains and hiked in them often. This was his religion. This is what grounded him. This was his soul. Throughout the work, we hear a succession of superbly interpreted ideas of profound depth. Wait. Was I referring to Strauss or Harding? The answer is both. As a musician for six decades, there is an indescribable spark of creative genius that is rarely sensed. There are more conductors who conduct notes on the score than who make music. Harding is solidly in the latter camp when it comes to Strauss. If his Auf dem Gipfel doesn't moisten your eyes, I'll be surprised. At my age, I can't ignore the end of life any longer. When it does come (which I hope will be years from now, by the way!), Hardin's Auf dem Gipfel would make a very pleasingl send-off.The recording abounds in perfect phrasing, superb orchestral textures, and profoundly moving ideas. Orchestral climaxes are gripping and moving. Softer passages are handled delicately. Ensemble work is precise. Sonics are extraordinary. Soundstage is wide with excellent center fill. Sonorities couldn’t be more refined.This is a sublime recording. If you love this powerful, emotional journey through the foothills of the Alps as I do, then Harding’s account must sit alongside Karajan and Kempe on your top shelf, not to displace them but rather to assure us that the finest interpretations have not already passed into history. I think we have seen only the beginning for this very talented conductor. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

As a rising young British conductor befriended by Claudio Abbado and Simon Rattle, among others, Daniel Harding's career has been almost elusive. He shows potential and signs of greatness, but without a prominent permanent station as a conductor, he seems to find somewhat scattered and varied engagements, almost as if he's in a self-induced testing period. He's developed a name for himself in Brahms, Mahler, and Britten, but this new disc of Strauss' Alpine Symphony with the Saito Kinen Orchestra was a surprise.I'm coming to think a lot of Harding, and this reading adds to my respect. The Saito Kinen Orchestra has made multiple recordings under Seiji Ozawa, but few are readily available in the US. As the previous reviewer mentions, the orchestra is composed of skilled virtuosos, and I was caught off guard by the impact of their sound--we should have the privilege of hearing them more often. Harding's conducting is natural and has a fluidity that transmits the range of orchestral color with surprising accuracy. It makes sense to view the symphony as something more of a journey than an adventure, as Harding does. Certainly one witnesses plenty of thrills here, but excitement seems secondary. Harding leans toward refinement where he could be charging at times.That's no complaint though, or at least not a major one. There's not too much gravity, and everything sparkles regardless of the temperament of the moment. There's as much enjoyment to be had enjoying the gurgling brook as in blazing the peaks of the Alps. Harding achieves continuity, a challenge in a piece where the wide spectrum of emotions can seem scattered if not carefully guided. Even after hearing great readings from Thielemann and Welser-Most, I'm not sure if either produce such a definite compact experience, even with the virtuosity of the Vienna Phil for Thielemann or the exuberance of Welser-Most's youth orchestra. It would be wrong to suggest that Harding comes across as cautious, but like Dudamel in a recent Zarathustra with the Berlin Phil, he realizes there's as much dramatic potential in building lyrical tenderness as in accentuating sheer force.In almost every way this new Alpine Symphony is praiseworthy, and Decca's vivid sonics could make this the primary modern choice. My admiration for Harding increases as he strikes a home run in repertoire I didn't previously associate with him.

Créée en pleine guerre mondiale (en 1915) par Strauss lui-même, trop longtemps négligée et décriée par quelques sourds bien pensants, cette oeuvre orchestralement impressionnante, autant descriptive que symbolique , prend peu à peu sa vraie place de chef d'oeuvre symphonique, à la fois moderne et romantique.Le Saito Kinen Orchestra, un orchestre d'élite reformé chaque année pour le festival du même nom à Matsumoto, au coeur des Alpes japonaises (ça ne s'invente pas), est ici placé sous la baguette de Daniel Harding, spécialement invité pour l'occasion en remplacement d'un Seiji Ozawa aux prises avec la maladie. Le chef britannique y fait la démonstration d'un vrai sens architectural, d'une clarté exceptionnelle et en même temps d'une éloquence enthousiasmante, soignant les timbres, travaillant les textures, éclairant les reliefs de cette oeuvre flamboyante et démesurée. Avec aussi des choix parfois un peu déroutants, comme cet orage qui manque paradoxalement de maelström (mais pas de puissance) à force de dissection sonore, ou ces "derniers reflets" en costume éthéré (mais qui du coup manquent peut-être un soupçon d'une certaine opulence).Un véritable festival sonore, mais aussi pourrait-on dire une relative absence d'engagement émotif, une recherche de souffle qui donne par moment une diffuse sensation d'inabouti. Comme si à cette réalisation remarquable il manquait la touche ultime pour la mener vers l'idéal : une vision quasi philosophique de l'oeuvre, cette mince couche de vernis qui fait que la somme des différentes parties individuellement superbes formerait un tout incomparable.Enregistrée les 23 et 25 août 2012 en "live" (mais dans une qualité sonore digne du meilleur studio), éditée par Decca pour le cent-cinquantenaire du compositeur (et au demeurant le centenaire de la symphonie), dans une discographie déjà bien fournie, cette Alpensinfonie se montre sans doute l'une des plus recommandables qu'ait vu fleurir ce début de siècle, pleine de réelles qualités musicales et superbement enregistrée, avec une véritable mise en relief des détails d'une partition richissime, venant se placer à quelques encordées seulement des plus hauts sommets.

Strauss is tricky isn't he? For some time I have straddled the line of uncertainty as to whether he is a vulgarian or a genius. The Alpine Symphony is a wonderful work and after a spin of this disc, I veer towards the genius bisection from my conceptual line.