You’d think that, in theory at least, Richard Strauss tone-poems that are conducted with what seems like a minimum of ‘ego’ are unlikely to hit their intended target. And yet this beautifully recorded CD by François-Xavier Roth and his SWR Symphony Orchestra offers ample proof to the contrary. By minimum of ‘ego’ I don’t mean lack of impact, as you’ll hear right from the snarling first chord of Ein Heldenleben’s ‘hero’, and where subsequent layers swirl this way or that. ‘The Hero’s Adversaries’, with lyrical interpolations, enjoys nicely graded climaxes, while the violin solo (Christian Ostertag) in ‘The Hero’s Companion’ suggests a bright, sympathetic and comely partner rather than a needy old bore. The arrival of the offstage brass in ‘The Hero of Battle’ that prompts the battle itself signals a vigorous but never overbearing interlude, while the Hero’s reflective ‘Works of Peace’ and eventual ‘Retirement’ represent an initially assertive but ultimately uplifting celebration. What I particularly like about this performance is its musical honesty, where Strauss’s genius as a master orchestrator, his ability to conjure mood, whether heroic or reflective, is presented with the kind of understated interpretative effectiveness that, on the evidence of his recordings, Strauss himself favoured.

Death and Transfiguration suggests a similarly resilient spirit, tough-grained but unforced, which makes the final climax all the more overwhelming. Roth draws extremely fine playing from his orchestra and I look forward to further instalments in the same series, most especially my favourites among the tone-poems, Also sprach Zarathustra and the Alpine Symphony.