Superb Strauss birthday celebration

Edo de Waart was in charge of Richard Strauss’s 150th birthday concert the following week. This was a very specially programmed concert with Malaysian premieres of Strauss’ works in the first half and his magnificent Alpine Symphony taking its place in the second half. The concert began with his Fanfare for the Vienna Philharmonic, which was magnificently played with rounded and rich tones of the MPO brass players and invited guest players. The Fanfare was played in its original scoring, which calls for 6 trumpets, 8 French horns, 6 trombones and 2 tubas plus timpani.

Next up came the Serenade for Winds Op 7. The expert MPO woodwind players gave a good lyrical and pastoral account of the Serenade. Following that, the whole massive MPO gave a colourful and sensuous account of the Dance of the Seven Veils from Salome. After the interval, we heard a gripping account of the Alpine Symphony. Strauss’ colossal masterpiece was rarely played in the pre-digital age but has gained traction in the concert hall including at least 2 MPO performances at DFP under Kees Bakels and Claus Peter Flor. From the mysterious opening movement (Night), there was a robustly played Ascent and the Sunrise. The more delicate moments like Wandering by the Brook, Apparition and In the mountain pasture were beautifully played. De Waart also balanced the MPO forces very well in the grander portions like On The Summit and he ensured that this was truly the major climax of the whole symphony.

The secondary climax of the symphony is at the Thunderstorm. From that magnificent climax, de Waart brought the symphony to its dark and mysterious conclusion. It was a well-planned and conceived Richard Strauss birthday concert. It was also magnificently played but was less exalted than the Mahler 3 de Waart concert from the week before.