★★★★★ Jansons continues his sudden rise to greatness, this time in Strauss

Strauss: Don Juan & Ein Heldenleben

What has happened to Mariss Jansons? For years, I had a lukewarm opinion about the Latvian conductor, despite his international renown and the prominence of his positions at the Royal Concertgebouw and Bavarian Radio Symphony. But he's been a new conductor lately, with originality and insight that has shocked me. Frankly, I now watch him with more expectation than any other conductor on the scene.

After such a laudatory prelude, how is his Strauss? We hear a good sampling in the Don Juan that starts out the program. Jansons' approach is refined and inward-looking, not out for display but almost indifferent to it, actually. For some it will be too low key, since this is far from a lurid, go-for-broke type of interpretation. But the inner meaning is gripping, and the virtuosity is natural and beyond words. I appreciate Karajan for lyric intensity, Tennstedt for fervent romanticism, Haitink for youthful infectiousness, and Abbado for exuberant virtuosity, but there's something here that screams for attention. If I enjoyed Dudamel's recent reading with the Berlin Phil, Jansons is a step higher.

Coming to Ein Heldenleben, Jansons seems to be taking his time. We're not greeted with an instant splash, but as he stops to highlight nuances here and there, the feeling of suspense grips the listener. I'll admit that if drive and sheer energy should be the prime ingredient in this work, Jansons can't compete with a number of his rivals. But after we already have many heroic versions, hearing the freshness and added detail is irresistible. Not a bar sounds rote; Jansons is continually sprinkling new ideas with conviction and spontaneity. Surely it took hours of rehearsal to achieve this level of orchestral balance. The secret to Jansons' approach, as with his past several releases, is that the virtuosity isn't used as an end in itself. The depth of the interpretation opens our ears to a sound world I'm more than ready to receive. The welding of energy and refinement we hear at the start of the battle scene is enough to make one's hairs stand on end. Not even Rattle with the Berliners or Thielemann with the Vienna Phil sound so effortless.      

So once again, I'm pleased to report that Jansons has won another victory. This Strauss disc has earned a place on my shelf right alongside my favorites.