Richard Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie; Don Juan

The fourth instalment in François-Xavier Roth's survey of the tone poems of Richard Strauss presents the two masterpieces that bookend his contributions to the genre, the youthful and vigorous Don Juan (1888) and the expansive Eine Alpensinfonie (1915). Roth leads the SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg in robust and fully Romantic interpretations that may surprise listeners who are more familiar with his historically informed performances with the period instruments ensemble Les Siècles. Here, he relies on a large modern orchestra playing with rich sonorities and powerful dynamics, and while a big sound is what one wants in Strauss, the parts are finely detailed and carefully balanced, and the textures are clear and cleanly separated. This is immediately apparent in the brilliant Don Juan, a true showpiece for orchestra, though the denser textures and heavier timbres of Eine Alpensinfonie are also carefully handled in Roth's imposing reading.