Hindemith / Strauss / Schoenberg / Ravel

In this wide-ranging live concert, conductor Franz Welser-Möst places Ravel’s lusciously seductive yet macabre tribute to Vienna, La valse in compelling context. And who better to perform it all than Vienna’s top orchestra? First, Hindemith’s Konzertmusik for Wind Orchestra, composed in 1926 for a German military band. The Vienna Philharmonic winds and brass, the latter burnished in sound, give an engaging account of this jokey, boisterous work. The crunchy brass motif that opens Richard Strauss’ Symphonic Fantasy on Die Frau ohne Schatten provides a convincing bridge between the Hindemith and the silky lyricism of the string theme that follows—played with obvious affection by the Vienna strings. Pure Strauss magic follows, with harp and tinkling percussion creating sparkle around the fluttering harmonies. More orchestral mastery follows in the form of Schoenberg’s Variations for Orchestra. In that work’s atmospheric opening, and the series of vivid vignettes which follow, each element is precisely realised under Welser-Möst’s meticulous direction. Welser-Möst’s account of Ravel’s La valse, while cool-headed, gives the score’s lusciousness—harp and swooning strings especially—its due; and tension and a sense of dread builds inexorably through to a ferocious end that sparks enthusiastic applause.