Richard Strauss used a colossal orchestra to tell the story of an imaginary hero, complete with enemies and battles.
Ein Heldenleben is an irresistibly flamboyant musical self-portrait and one of the all-time great orchestral showpieces. Under John Storgårds, it's the most thrilling possible finale to our Strauss birthday celebrations - apart, that is, from the chance to hear a sequence of his loveliest songs performed by one of the world's great lyric sopranos, Hillevi Martinpelto.
Mahler's heartfelt early tone-poem helps keep things grounded; if you love his 'Resurrection' Symphony, it might ring a few bells.
