Claudio Abbado conducts a Strauss gala for the 1992 New Year’s Eve Concert

The foundations of the Berliner Philharmoniker’s Richard Strauss tradition were laid by the composer himself: he conducted the orchestra on numerous occasions. While the current chief conductor Kirill Petrenko is committed to continuing this musical legacy, Claudio Abbado, in his day, only rarely programmed works by Strauss. The only opera he performed in its entirety with the orchestra was Elektra. He also included orchestral songs and a modest selection of symphonic poems in his repertoire.

This makes this recording of the 1992 New Year’s Eve Concert, in which Abbado can be heard conducting a scene from Der Rosenkavalier, all the more valuable. The performance of Strauss’s Burleske with Martha Argerich is also a precious rarity – with her fiery temperament and effortless technique, the pianist is an ideal performer of this playful, exuberant and incredibly virtuosic piece.

Like the Burleske, the muscular tone poem Don Juan is also one of Strauss’s early works. It displays excellent characterisation, as does Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks, in which the composer shows his humorous side. Strauss’s love of high female voices has perhaps never been expressed as movingly as in the finale of Der Rosenkavalier, when the interwoven vocal parts are crowned by the sparkling sound of the celesta: the Marschallin renounces her lover Octavian and supports his marriage to the young Sophie – bringing the year to a beautiful, harmonious close.

Berliner Philharmoniker

Claudio Abbado

Martha Argerich

Renée Fleming

Kathleen Battle

Frederica von Stade