It has been a while since I conducted one of my favorite Richard Strauss works, “Ein Heldenleben” (A hero’s life). I will perform it with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra in Copenhagen next week. Details here.

This work is one of my best memories. I first heard it through the glorious, historical, and reference recording by Rudolf Kempe with the Staatskapelle Dresden. Then, I conducted it with many different orchestras and had the privilege of recording it, as Rudolf Kempe’s successor in Dresden, with the great Staatskapelle some years ago. In this recording, I use the ending (which describes the hero’s death) allegedly preferred by Richard Strauss: a soft, comforting, slow ending with a tender violin solo. The usual, most commonly performed ending is the so-called “Zarathustra-Ending” with a full orchestra, giving the work a supplement of empty heroism (spectacular, though). Strauss himself didn’t like this “Zarathustra-Ending”; he defined it as “Staatsbegräbnis” (a State Funeral).