Beethoven, Strauss & Bartók: Orchestral Works (Live)

István Kertész’s early death from a swimming accident in 1973 meant that he performed very little in Salzburg. In the previous decade he quickly established himself as a first-class conductor of the younger generation with a large repertoire ranging from the Viennese classics to the Modern. In Salzburg in 1962 he confirmed his reputation, conducting the Berlin Philharmonic in a program that reached from Beethoven’s 8th Symphony via Richard Strauss’ Four last songs to Béla Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra, all of which made evident Kertész’s stylistic flexibility—everything was surging with energy and played with great lucidity. This concert (and thus the present recording of it) was further enriched by the presence of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf—a Strauss interpreter without peer to the present day.