The fifth release of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra follows two historic gems (Celibidache, Giulini) and a couple of Mahlers with Fabio Luisi. This newest recording is positively delightful: Manfred Honeck performs an ostensibly light program of Strauss polkas and waltzes (mostly Johann, but also four by his brothers Eduard and Josef). The result is slightly more wistful and sometimes more rustic than one might expect, and bird-whistles (as per the score) are liberally included. Honeck, forced to learn the dreadfully uncool zither when he was a teen, has a knack for Straussian rhythms that recalls Carlos Kleiber.

– Jens F. Laurson, Listen Magazine