Another Alpensinfonie

Never heard this one before and this is the first time I have heard anything from this conductor, so I am going in without any preconceived opinions.
The orchestra really sounds very very blended, like one huge body rather than a bunch of individual musicians and this works really really well with some of the colourful orchestral effects that Strauss employs, particularly with the use of the glockenspiel. At Eintritt in den Wald, however, I am reminded that there is still a wonderful transparency in the overall orchestral sound as well where foreground and background lines in the texture are easily heard and balanced well so that no part of the orchestra is overpowering. At this section there is certainly very little freedom to explore slight adjustments to the tempo in an expressive way, as all the expression comes through in the diverse use of articulations. Really, I think every accented note in this whole performance is played in a noticeably different way based on the context each one appears in and I really like that. Am Wasserfall is extremely colourful here, more than most recordings I have heard so far. The instruments in the recording seem to be resonating with each other naturally rather than fading into the background to let the oboes' melody dominate.
Durch Dickit und Gestrüpp auf Irrwegen has a danger of becoming sloppy, but not here. The score is pretty much treated as authority without any real exaggerations or interesting interpretative choices like in Auf dem Gletscher and Gefahrvolle Augenblicke, which follow. It comes across as solid in comparison, but lacking much onward movement that the score suggests. The following two sections on the other hand are exaggerated in articulation and dynamic, extremely clear as well, but with the kind of drive forward that would be appropriate in the previous section. Auf dem Gipfel is glorious, and is Vision, although Vision seems to suffer from a 1st trumpet player that sounds awkwardly out of time and balance with everyone else. The end of Vision presses forward into a crystal clear Nebel steigen auf with a forceful, hair raising tutti and a well developed crescendo.
The sections leading up to Gewitter und Sturm are probably the best executed in the entire performance on this disc. The timpanist is quite enthusiastic for one thing, and that's something I am biased towards already. The already established clarity of texture and execution of orchestral effects and techniques employed by Strauss are at their best here. Unfortunately the boominess of Gewitter und Sturm can be a little overbearing and smothering some of the orchestration at times, but as it progresses it improves. The revisitation of previous themes from the first half of the piece are sometimes a little bit smothered but are noticeably there without being pushed or forced out too much.
A general note about the dynamics and phrasing, there is a tendency here to play everything straight but at the same time the music has a very natural feel the dynamic shaping in longer stretches. Long crescendos and decrescendos are done very convincingly without unnaturally intensifying the music or unnaturally decreasing the real sense of presence of the notes and harmonies themselves. I would find it a little more interesting if the interpretation as a whole featured more mircophrasing, but when it does a bit in Ausklang it never oversteps its boundaries or sounds out of place. The whole winding down towards the final Nacht very naturally releases the music from the dynamic swells towards stillness and calm. The final brass chords begin very distantly and grow a little more present towards the violins' entry and then the orchestra grows distant again, pausing for an almost overdone glissando to the final chord.
I like this recording for how the orchestration comes through wonderfully and the very well considered interpretation of articulation markings, however, where dynamics, phrasing and orchestral balanced are ignored the music noticeably falls flat on what this interpretation has established it can do so well.