Ein Heldenleben, Tod und Verklarung : Bohm / RIAS Symphony Orchestra

Karl Böhm Edition Vol. 6

R. Strauss: Ein Heldenleben & Tod und Verklärung
Strauss, Richard

RIAS Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
Böhm, Karl (conductor)

In 1950 and 1951 Karl Böhm recorded two of Richard Strauss’s tone poems with the RIAS Symphony Orchestra: Tod und Verklärung Op. 24 and Ein Heldenleben Op. 40. Böhm, the dedicatee of Strauss’s opera Daphne, had been the composer’s intimate friend ever since becoming head of the Dresden Opera, and throughout his career his readings of Strauss were considered definitive. These two recordings were made during Böhm’s “migratory years”, after his name had been removed from the blacklist and shortly after Strauss’s death. In their energy and refulgent luminosity they bear witness to Böhm’s close emotional bond with this repertoire. They also reflect the superb attainments that had quickly elevated the RIAS Orchestra to a front-rank modern ensemble under the aegis of its principal conductor, Ferenc Fricsay.

The historical publications at audite are based, without exception, on the original tapes from broadcasting archives. In general these are the original analogue tapes, which attain an astonishingly high quality, even measured by today‘s standards, with their tape speed of up to 76 cm/sec. The remastering – professionally competent and sensitively applied – also uncovers previously hidden details of the interpretations. Thus, a sound of superior quality results. CD publications based on private recordings from broadcasts cannot be compared with these.


Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40 [46:11]
Tod und Verklarung, Op. 24 [25:19]

Fritz Görlach, violín
RIAS-Symphonie-Orchester
Karl Böhm, conductor

Recording: 23-24/04/1951, 25/03/1950
Berlin, Jesus-Christus-Kirche