Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40 (1898)
Philharmonia Orchestra/Santtu-Matias Rouvali
rec. live, 8 June 2023, Royal Festival Hall, London
Signum Classics SIGCD922 [50]

This is by no means Santtu-Matias Rouvali’s first foray into recording Strauss as principal conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra; my colleague Simon Thompson enthusiastically reviewed his double CD set of tone poems in 2023, despite some reservations about his Alpine Symphony. That was the first in the “Santtu conducts” series by the orchestra under the Signum label and we have since seen releases of recordings of their live performances of big orchestral works by Mahler, Shostakovich and Stravinsky.

I declare a special interest in new recordings of Ein Heldenleben, as it was the first work to arouse my devotion to Richard Strauss and the subject of my survey in 2022 – so I guess that I fancy myself as something of a judge. Of course, that also means that I bring baggage with me whenever encountering a new version; I am imprinted with Ormandy, Karajan, Oue, Nelsons et al, so subconsciously resist newcomers and am further stymied by the fact that there are just so many superlative recordings of this glorious egofest of a work. Any newcomer is really up against it – but I find that Rouvali and the Philharmonia may hold their heads high in such august company.

Rouvali is overall somewhat more spacious and relaxed by several minutes than many of my favourite recordings, opening in a manner which would be diffident were it not for the sustained sonority of the orchestra and a gradual but inexorable ratcheting up of tension. The ensuing shorter, Hero’s Adversaries passage has an almost menacing, mysterious atmosphere when so deliberately paced, and the third section, Des Helden Gefährtin (The Hero’s Companion) is noticeably more leisurely – and it is distinguished by the seductively cool, patrician playing of the Joint Concertmaster of the Philharmonia, Zsolt-Tihamér Visontay. Rouvali creates here a dreamy, otherworldly atmosphere which melds seamlessly into the offstage trumpets heralding the Battlefield episode, which in turn evolves into a splendid riot of organised chaos, the especially prominent timpani emphasising that riotousness. The triumphant fanfare at 6:06 in this movement is truly earned rather than applied; Rouvali finds maximum catharsis in its heroism and return to the insistent opening theme; the last two minutes are as magnificent as those in any recording I know. His willingness to linger is again noticeable in the Friedenswerke serving only to enhance the grandeur of this music, mostly without any sense of dragging. The extreme leisureliness of the ending of that movement contrasts vividly with the bite of the opening of the last section, the Hero’s Retirement, but then Rouvali’s expansive phrasing lends it greater poignancy than I have heard before, its melancholy reinforced by the extraordinary delicacy and control of both the violin and horn solos. The concluding quotation from the opening of Also Sprach Zarathustra confers a kind of blessing upon our hero’s apotheosis.

The recording quality is flawless and there is no hint of this being live. There are more driven, energised performances of Ein Heldenleben but this one achieves a profundity which wholly validates Rouvali’s more reflective interpretative choices.

Ralph Moore

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