Strauss: Don Juan / Ein Heldenleben (Mariss Jansons) (CD, Br-Klassik)

The Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks presents two heroic tone poems by Richard Strauss in live recordings under the direction of its former chief conductor Mariss Jansons, who died in 2019. With Don Juan, the young up-and-coming composer secured a firm place in the musical life of the German Empire and showed himself to be an early master of the musical genre. A heroic life, composed at the turn of the 20th century, is in every respect a work of unshakable self-confidence. Strauss left little doubt that he musically portrayed himself in Heldenleben, which earned the work a contradicting response. Today, with its huge line-up of over a hundred musicians, it is one of the great touchstones for symphony orchestras because of the extensive violin solo, not least for their concertmasters.