Richard Strauss made an auspicious, threefold debut on 18 Oct 1885, age 21: as soloist in Mozart’s Piano Concerto in c, K. 491, and as composer and conductor with his own Symphony in f, op. 12. “Symphony – splendid. His playing – like his conducting debut – simply astounding” was but one reaction. Despite this spectacular success, Strauss only achieved his definitive breakthrough as a composer with Don Juan, Op. 20 in 1888, a work revealing a completely new approach to instrumentation. These are the two works that feature on Vol. 3 of Sebastian Weigle’s Richard Strauss orchestral series.
