Don Juan

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Fritz Reiner, delivers a transcendent rendition of Richard Strauss’s masterpieces, “Also sprach Zarathustra” and “Don Juan.” This recording captures the grandeur and profound depth of Strauss’s compositions, with the orchestra’s performance exuding both technical precision and emotive power.

It’s interesting that Georg Solti’s recordings of Strauss tone poems seem never to have gotten the attention that they deserve. True, he did not program them with the same frequency and comprehensiveness that he did Strauss’ contemporary Mahler, but Solti’s credentials as an exciting and idiomatic conductor of the operas have never been questioned. He knew and worked with the composer personally from his days at the helm of the Munich opera after the Second World War, and more to the point, he plays this music with just the kind of directness and virtuosity that it demands.