CD: Strauss: An Alpine Symphony, Weimar Staatskapelle/ Wit

Polish conductor Antoni Wit is one of Naxos's great finds; a musician of tremendous passion and integrity, whose interpretations frequently outshine those of bigger names on other labels. Here he turns his hand to Strauss's astonishing symphony, depicting both man's attempts to conquer nature and nature's ultimate potential to destroy man.

It's a performance of searing intensity, characterised by a sense of danger, as if terrifying forces are continuously about to be unleashed on the listener. Strauss's debt to Mahler, whose death in 1911 was the work's trigger, is underemphasised by some conductors, though here it is overtly apparent in both the mood of psychological struggle and in the orchestral sound, which is infinitely darker than in most rival versions. Some may prefer Karajan's cushy ease or Kempe's more extrovert brilliance in this music, but this is a phenomenal recording that ranks alongside the best.