In 1950 and 1951 Karl Böhm recorded two of Richard Strauss’ tone poems with the RIAS Symphony Orchestra: Tod und Verklärung Op.24 and Ein Heldenleben Op. 40. Böhm, the dedicatee of Strauss’ 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.
