Strauss: Don Quixote; Till Eulenspiegel – review

Richard Strauss, often finicky in his choice of performers, allotted the premieres of Till Eulenspiegel and Don Quixote, in the opinion of many his finest tone poems, to the Gürzenich Orchestra in Cologne. Ahead of the 150th anniversary of the composer's birth, the orchestra has repaid the compliment by recording them together, with conductor Markus Stenz. The performance of Don Quixote, in particular, is among the finest on disc.

It does, however, break with tradition. Strauss cast the work in the form of a set of variations "on a theme of knightly character," in which a solo cello depicts the Don, while a solo viola indicates Sancho Panza. Strauss intended both parts should be played by the leaders of the respective string sections, though many cellists have since appropriated the piece as a star vehicle. Stenz goes one further by turning it into a double concerto, with Alban Gerhardt's Quixote paired with Lawrence Power's Sancho.

The dividends prove enormous in terms of subtleties of characterisation. Gerhardt and Power convey the complex nature of the relationship between the two: one an impossible dreamer, the other hopelessly prosaic. We sense the affection beneath the tension and the dependency behind the arguments, in ways that leave most other recordings in the shade. Stenz's conducting is all about the cumulative impact of small gestures rather than grand statements. We're conscious throughout of the classical form at the work's heart, though Stenz is also marvellous when it comes to those astonishing moments when the Don's fantasies assume a transcendent reality greater than anything on earth. It's nigh-on perfect.

The Till Eulenspiegel is comparably fine, if perhaps less epoch-making. The tone is witty yet abrasive, in keeping with a protagonist whose aim is to dent bourgeois and ecclesiastical certainties. The playing is outstanding in its detail and elegance. I gather there are as yet no plans for Stenz and the Gürzenich to record more of Strauss's orchestral works, which is a shame – in his anniversary year, a full cycle would be most welcome.