Santtu Conducts Strauss

When the Finnish conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali led his first concert as principal conductor of London’s Philharmonia orchestra in September 2021, Richard Strauss’s mighty tone poems Also sprach Zarathustra and Eine Alpensinfonie were on the programme. Both were recorded live on the evening, and feature on this, Rouvali’s third album with the Philharmonia’s in-house label. “Masterpieces, lovely music with so many different layers,” is Rouvali’s thumbnail description of the two pieces. Sumptuously scored for a large orchestra, they play perfectly to the Philharmonia’s legendary strength and virtuosity. “When we recorded the pieces, the orchestra was on fabulous form,” he says. “But the really amazing thing is the contrasts between the very quiet playing and at the same time an incredible intensity, as you will hear in the high points of Also sprach Zarathustra. And in Eine Alpensinfonie when the sun comes out it is an amazing sound. The Philharmonia has lived with this music its entire life, and throughout the album it’s the delicacy that really comes across for me.” That delicacy is crucial in Strauss, where hard work is needed to clarify the often teeming orchestral textures. “That is one of the reasons why I like Strauss,” Rouvali adds. “It gives freedom to the conductor to make sound or decide the speed, but you can also just let the orchestra flow, or fly. Balancing right, that is the biggest challenge.” It’s a challenge which the Philharmonia players embrace with relish on their all-Strauss album, which also includes the shorter tone poems Don Juan and Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche. “The Philharmonia is one of the highest skilled orchestras in the world, music just breathes with them and they are able to do whatever I ask,” Rouvali enthuses. “Also the string sound of the Philharmonia is special. It is rhythmical, but also warm and deep. Only this orchestra can do both.”