A Mixed Bag of Luxury

This is a performance that's almost too luxurious. From the sensual glories of Strauss's Don Juan and Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder, to Mariss Janson's lavishly upholstered rendition of Brahms's First Symphony, the listener is treated to the Vienna Philharmonic in all its velvety glory. Sometimes, however, not least in the Brahms, you hanker for a more urgent interpretation.

Still, there's no lack of attack at the beginning of the Strauss, as Jansons brilliantly contrasts Don Juan's bravura and his famous seductive skills. Liquid woodwind solos (not least from the oboist), a superb rallying horn section and the sumptuous Viennese strings brilliantly colour Strauss's tone poem. It's here that Jansons is at his most theatrical.

Nina Stemme's voice is becoming much more buttery as time goes on and her rendition of the Wesendonck Lieder is particularly full-flavoured. Jansons responds with a chilling 'Im Treibhaus', brilliantly setting up the richer glories of 'Schmerzen'. The throbbing viola and cello accompaniment in 'Träume' is particularly magnificent, closing the strong first half of this concert from the 2012 Salzburg Festival.

I'm less convinced by what happens after the interval. Jansons is a great symphonic interpreter, as revealed by his performances of Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky and Mahler at this year's Festival, but there's something oddly self-regarding about his Brahms. It's as if the whole interpretation is weighed down with the importance of the work, rather than its sense of urgency and achievement. Tenacious though the first movement may be, with superb work from the VPO timpanist, the central movements are beautiful but oddly disengaging.

Jansons ratchets up the tension at the beginning of the Finale, but rather than pushing through to C major, as Brahms emulates his idol Beethoven, Jansons seems to be looking back rather than forward. The main theme has not the nobility of a young man in triumph, but an old man surveying his accomplishments. Jansons might be playing a longer architectural game, yet too often you anticipate climaxes and are subsequently left disappointed by their arrival. Luxury is all well and good, but it should never hinder the thrills and spills of symphonic drama. Click here to order a copy on DVD. Click here to order a copy on BluRay.

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