London Philharmonic Orchestra

Could this be the most electrifying score by Richard Strauss you’ve never heard? In 1886 the young composer planned a new work to suitably impress during his debut as conductor of the Munich Opera Orchestra. On a trip to Italy, the composer was overwhelmed by Venice and Florence, and by the sight of Mount Vesuvius which erupted even before his eyes. ’The ideas came in flocks’, he enthused, the only trouble being, one of them wasn’t an Italian folk-tune as Strauss had thought, but a song by a native composer. Royalty legislation kicked in, and Aus Italien was shelved. Now freed from copyright constraints, hear the sumptuous symphonic fantasy that might have become Strauss’s orchestral calling card.