Search - Strauss, Koussevitsky :: Don Juan Op 20 / Sprach Zarathustra Op 30

On paper, Strauss's prodigious palette of instrumental combinations would seem the perfect match for this colorful conductor and his virtuoso orchestra. In reality, Don Juan and Till Eulenspiegel emerge heavy and hard-driven, lacking the transparent delicacy and characterization that distinguish other pre-stereo versions conducted by Böhm, Busch, Toscanini, and the composer himself. Recorded a decade earlier, this 1933 disc premiere of Zarathustra is sonically richer, though the performance meanders somewhat in comparison to later 78-era versions from Stock and Rodzinski. --Jed Distler