Karajan conducts Strauss: Ein Heldenleben

"He is my man", Richard Strauss is reported to have said when he heard the young Herbert von Karajan – and although many conductors active in the 1980s had known and worked with Strauss, few were more closely identified with the composer, or conducted his music with more authority and flair. Ein Heldenleben was something of a signature work for Karajan over his decades with the Berlin Philharmonic, and this performance, filmed in 1985 as part of a series documenting Karajan's interpretations of Strauss tone poems, finds both conductor and orchestra at the height of their Straussian form. This is a Hero's Life with both swagger and tenderness, delivered by an orchestra and conductor who have truly lived with Strauss's vision.

Soloist: 

Leon Spierer (Violin)

Ensemble: 

Berliner Philharmoniker

Conductor: 

Herbert von Karajan