This suave and efficient Strauss disc shows why Yannick Nézet-Séguin has rocketed to the first division of the conducting league. Ein Heldenleben is well played, though the string sound of the Rotterdam Philharmonic is diffuse and the woodwind solos leap forward unnaturally. The main problem is blandness. The Four Last Songs are more characterful, although the soprano Dorothea Röschmann’s voice can be hard-edged and her vibrato prominent. In the sublime third song the pace seems hurried and the violin solo isn’t flawless, but otherwise this is a reading of unusual energy.
(Bis/Select; out now)