The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, under their chief conductor Sir Andrew Davis, presents the second volume in their live series of Richard Strauss’s orchestral works.

The inspiration for Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life) - completed at the turn of the twentieth century - was one of the most groundbreaking works ever written: Beethoven’s ‘Eroica’ Symphony. Largely agreed to be autobiographical - despite Strauss’s protestations to the contrary - it depicts various aspects of what Strauss called an ‘ideal of great and manly heroism’. Musically, it was the most ambitious work Strauss had written to date, and features a large orchestra and virtuosic violin solo, played here by the MSO’s concertmaster Dale Barltrop.

On this album, Ein Heldenleben is prefaced by the Four Symphonic Interludes from Intermezzo, Strauss’s opera based around incidents in the life of himself and his wife.