Thus spake Dudamel

Just as with his recent recording of Mahler 9 with the LA Phil, it's good to hear Gustavo Dudamel without the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra. Indeed for both to grow I wonder whether they should now go their separate ways. For, unsurprisingly, when Dudamel is at the helm of the Berlin Phil he sounds on significantly finer form, though there are still elements of his interpretation of late Romantic repertoire that need refining. Dudamel, like all performers, is a work in progress, though in his case we are being exposed to a number of trial runs.

This new Strauss disc – taken from live performances in Berlin of Also sprach Zarathustra in 2012 and Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche and Don Juan in 2013 – is characteristically exciting and inventive. The orchestra is on largely top form, sounding as luscious as you could wish, though Dudamel occasionally glosses over details, as in his Mahler, opting instead for his favourite booming dynamics. While the Venezuelans capitulate to these more wayward aspects of his style, they are thankfully tempered somewhat by the Berliners.

Sometimes, however, even these experienced players get carried away. While 'Von den Hinterweltlern' in Also sprach Zarathustra is luxurious but measured, you crave a little more bite in 'Von den Freuden und Leidenschaften'. This is, after all, a musical expression of the tensions between man and the universe. Dudamel certainly communicates the excitement and grandeur of the work, but not the dialectics that inspired Strauss to turn to Nietzsche in the first place. And I wonder whether Dudamel has fully grasped the wit of 'Das Tanzlied' or the irresolution of 'Das Nachtwandlerlied'.

Brilliantly played again though it is, Dudamel's rendition of Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche cannot erase the true abandon of Markus Stenz and the Gürzenich Orchester's recording for Hyperion earlier this year. And perhaps I was too fresh from Jansons and the Vienna Phil's new film of Don Juan to enjoy Dudamel's performance as much as I should. Yet for all the ravishing playing – the Berlin horn section is absolutely stonking in Don Juan – Dudamel really needs to find a way of letting us hear more layers of these complex works. While lavish sound is never in short supply, there has to be more to drive you back to a recording again and again. So while there is terrific shape to Dudamel's phrasing and the pacing is largely effortless throughout, there are much more refined interpretations of these works, both historically by the Berlin Phil and from others in recent months. Click here to order a copy.

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