Although he lived well into the 20th century, Richard Strauss ignored the new modernistic styles of aggressive dissonance and atonalism. He wrote using a rich fund of melody and his reputation with the public remained high, but he was not so well admired by professional critical opinion and his scoring for large orchestra was often regarded as inflated. So it was with the Alpine Symphony, a spectacular, readily descriptive programme work. Today we know better, and its sonic extravagances and ready flow of descriptive melody are relished. Certainly they are in this live performance. Moreover, the conductor, Christian Thielemann, whose reading is satisfyingly spacious, reveals the work’s structural mastery in intermingling and transforming its many themes.

The excellent video director Michael Beyer expertly lays out the orchestra in front of us, following the music sensibly so that we can relish Strauss’s detailed scoring. He also shows the conductor as an essentially serious musician who is not without amiability but creates considerable intensity throughout, only very occasionally permitting himself a smile of pleasure. But, with excellently balanced sound, the performance projects admirably, although the overall dynamic range has been cut back somewhat (the cowbells in the meadow sequence are barely audible and the summit climax is rich and exciting rather than overwhelming). The closing Elegy is superbly managed.

Reneé Fleming’s fill-up is also quite splendid – although the presentation here suggests the major items of the disc are her Lieder performances rather than the orchestral work. Rightly so. She sings gloriously and the result is ravishing, including the excerpt from Arabella. The four songs, however, were written by Strauss for his beloved wife Pauline. They are essentially love songs and their composer often performed them in duo with her. They would surely have felt that Fleming’s rapturous performances were equally worthy of the music.