Karajan conducts Strauss: Don Quixote – with Mstislav Rostropovich

Richard Strauss originally conceived the solo cello part in his 1896 Tone Poem Don Quixote for orchestral principal cellos, but it’s long been championed by star cellists too. And few cellists come starrier than Mstislav Rostropovich, one of the 20th century’s great musical figures and a regular collaborator with Herbert von Karajan. Here they come together – with the Berliner Philharmoniker – in a classic account of Strauss’s brilliant distillation of key scenes from Cervantes grand picturesque novel. Rostropovich vividly embodies Don Quixote himself, with viola player Ulrich Koch portraying his squire, Sancho Panza. Karajan, meanwhile, sets each scene with a rare mixture of detail and symphonic vision.

Soloist: 

Mstislav Rostropovich (Cello)

Conductor: 

Herbert von Karajan