Still during, or better, already during Richard Strauss's life Herbert von Karajan was one of the pioneers who championed with great enthusiasm the oeuvre of the composer from Garmisch. Strauss listened with great satisfaction to a performance by Karajan and afterwards, with a twinkle in his eye, called him a “rascal”. Karajan's continued devotedness to Strauss's works knows no comparison. He has left us with a wealth of first-class recordings made over the decades – from crackling shellac right up to the introduction of digital technology.
The “Fantastic Variations on a Theme of Knightly Character”, or just “Don Quixote“ for short, bring together highly varied contrasts in a complex score. Ten variations, brimming over with pictorial music, relate the dramatic experiences of the “Knight of the mournful countenance” and his rustic squire: their ambling departure into the world, bitter combat and heroic triumph over the giant windmills, and finally understanding and a return homewards from the journey within himself.
Cervantes' noble subject is treated here to an equally noble musical re-working and a noble performance.
This record was part of the 3-LP Set “The Conductors“ and is now available again.
Recording: 27, 28 and 30 December 1965 at Jesus-Christus Kirche, Berlin, by Günter Hermanns / Production: Otto Gerdes
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