Robin Ticciati, DSO Berlin & Louise Alder - Strauss - The Scotsman

As principal conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Robin Ticciati's opportunities to explore the wilder opulence of Richard Strauss' music were limited by the orchestras size and resources. In situ with Glyndebourne Opera such repertory inclinations have borne fruit, but it is in this new all-Strauss recording with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin that the floodgates appear to have fully opened. The early tone poem Don Juan is a perfect starting point. Ticciati's boyish enthusiasm feeds every impetuous moment, so rampant with adrenalin that when the brakes go on, as Strauss insists with unpredictable frequency, it's like hitting the corners in a white knuckle ride. There's respite in the sumptuous Sechs Lieder, Op 68, sung with heartwarming intimacy by Scots-trained soprano Louise Alder. Then it's back to orchestral power play in Tod und Verklärung, and a stirring tour de force from Ticciati.